Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. It was based on Deuteronomy 32. Edwards ends the sermon with one final appeal. “Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come.” That exact sentiment I would like to say today. It fits Revelation 14:9-16:21. There we find the ultimate destiny of those who worship the beast during the final parts of the tribulation. Yet, even that suffering is minor compared to their eternal destiny. Their eternal destiny occurs after the great white throne judgement. Throughout eternity they will be reminded it was their own choices that brought them there.
Now let us move linearly forward to the seventh trumpet that rings in the seven bowl judgements. Remember those living on earth already faced the plagues resulting from humanities perpetration of evil upon mankind. This during the seven seal judgments. They faced the plagues perpetrated from Satan’s wrath against the human race during the trumpet judgements. The deceiver truly hates the human race. After all they were created later than the angels. Furthermore they were weaker than the angels. Yet, God loved them with great affection, grace, and mercy. Concepts that may be foreign to angels.
To help with understanding God’s wrath being poured out, I do want to point out some facts from Deuteronomy 32 and then move fully into our text in Revelation.
(God) is the Rock. His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity. Just and right is He. Deuteronomy 32:4-5 KJV
God is unchanging and His ways are perfect. His righteousness and justice are also perfect.
An Ultimate Destiny of Wrath Despite God’s Rich Blessing Upon Them
They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
Deuteronomy 32: 5 KJV
Who corrupted them? They themselves. Yet, out of love God.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
So the Lord alone did lead (the people), and there was no strange god with Him. Deuteronomy 32: 11-12 KJV
He tried to awaken them. Never did He present them with other desires to turn them away from His gaze. His care and love remained steadfast.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
But Jeshurun (Israel) waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. Deuteronomy 32:13-15
God enriched each person and the nation with wealth and provision. Yet, they grew fat, arrogant, and forsook the one providing them with every blessing. What a kick in the face to God who loved and cared for them.
An Ultimate Destiny Determined By One’s Own Choice
They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. To gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Deuteronomy 32: 16-18 KJV
And what made it worse. Not only did they do this; but they drew away all the others into idolatrous worship and pagan ideologies. Sin is like a cancer that continues to grow within a society. Yet, how longsuffering and patient has God been.
And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, BECAUSE OF THE PROVOKING OF HIS SONS, AND OF HIS DAUGHTERS.
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs…
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
Deuteronomy 32:19-25, 29 KJV
Ultimate Destiny in The Seven Bowls of Wrath
All the years of waiting, while providing a means of salvation. Yet, a large portion of humanity determinedly turn their backs on God. Mock His name and refuse to accept His Atoning Plan of Salvation. He gave it all to provide a way. The wrath against sin He poured out on His own Son, so He could justify all who would accept this gift of salvation. Still, so many walk away. Set up false worship or proclaim themselves undeserving of any punishment, believing themselves more righteous than God Himself. It is no wonder that at some point God’s wrath would be poured out on all who deny Him. The marvel is it has not occurred already.
Still, His patience has endured for those who would accept Him. He will not lose a one of those whom He knows are His. Those have been known to Him from the beginning as He lives out side space and time while entering space and time at the same time. After all He is God. There is an orderliness of time, though He sees it all at once. He does everything in the “fulness of time”. His perfect timing we cannot truly question.
As we close out Revelation 14, the angels are preparing for the seven bowl judgements. Once more we see a glimpse into heaven and the heavenly tabernacle where God enters.
The Ultimate Destiny of the Seven Bowl Judgements
Time has come to an end for those who have chosen to deny Christ. They had spit upon His kindnesses and mocked Him to His face. Now it is time to harvest the evil. This is the significance of 14:14-20 tells us.
Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. Revelation 14:14-16 NASB
God is the Father in the Temple
God the Father is the one in the temple and says when. And the judgements pouring forth from God’s wrath against sin begins.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia. Revelation 14:14-20 NASB
1600 Stadia is 186 miles. That is a lot of bloodshed. Still that is only the beginning.
In Heaven, God Begins the Final Seven Plagues of Ultimate Destiny for Sin
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. Revelation 15: 1-2 NASB
Remember this sea of glass mixed with fire we saw in Revelation 4:6. This is God the Father’s throne. Only now the martyrs are standing there awaiting justice for their cruel deaths at the hands of other humans to be poured out on all who refused Christ for refuge and salvation.
And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
A“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
Who will not fear You, Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
All the nations will come and worship before You.
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Revelation 15: 3-4 NASB
Ultimate Destiny in the Tribulation Coming from Heaven’s Temple
After these things I looked. And the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened. The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and their chests wrapped with golden sashes. And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power. No one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. Revelation 15: 5-8
Remember the Egyptian Plagues? God very specifically designed the plagues to prove only He IS God Almighty. Each plague proved the inability of their gods to deal with anything. They are false gods—with some phony demon driven illusions of miracles. God is the miracle maker, no them. So, I we look at the seven bowls of wrath, we will see they too are very specifically designed.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” Revelation 16: 1 (NASB)
First 3 bowls of the Ultimate Destiny to Those Bearing the Mark
Everyone who received the mark of the beast will be afflicted first with open sores. This is not merely a third as we saw in the seal judgements. Instead, this is worldwide. The sores are open gaping wounds like Job or Lazarus suffered from.
So, the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. A harmful and painful sore afflicted the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. Revelation 16:2 NASB
Then came the second and the third first affecting the seas and then the rivers until all waters become blood. This one even comes with an explanation at to why they must drink blood.
The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters. They became blood.
And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, the One who is and who was, O Holy One, because You judged these things. For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets. (Therefore) You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.”And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” Revelation 16: 3-7 NASB
How appropriate. They thought nothing of killing the righteous. Nor of shedding the blood of the Saints. Therefore, now all they have is blood to drink.
Ultimate Destiny in the 4th, 5th, and 6th Bowls of wrath
And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun. (The Sun) was given power to scorch people with fire. And the people were scorched with fierce heat. Yet they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They did not repent so as to give Him glory. Revelation 16:8-9 NASB
The sun that normally provides light, warmth, and energy will become a deadly killer. With no fresh water to drink, earth’s inhabitants will face extreme heat. The scorching heat will melt the polar ice caps, which some estimate would raise the level of the world’s oceans by 200 ft., inundating many of the world’s major cities and producing further catastrophic loss of life (cf. Amos 9:5, 6). The resulting disruption of ocean transportation will make it difficult to distribute the dwindling resources of food and water.[1]
How appropriate for those who worship “Mother Earth, the moon and the stars. They do not worship the one who created everything. God who holds everything together in the palm of His hand.
10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. Revelation 16:10-11. NASB
Note: now they blame God? Thought they did not believe He held it all together? Which is it?
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Revelation 16:12 NASB
This is preparation for the great war to follow. Now east meets west in battle.
Har-Magedon (Armageddon)–Preparation for War begins
And I saw coming 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, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the entire world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
The world’s Kings believe they can defeat the Lord God Almighty—what fools.
The Seventh Bowl of Wrath-Ultimate Destiny for Blasphemy
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air. And a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” There were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. Also, there was a great earthquake. (One) such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth. So great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts. And the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. Every island fled, and no mountains were found.Huge hailstones, weighing about a talent each, *came down from heaven upon people. And the people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because the hailstone plague *was extremely severe.
(100-pound hailstones, imagine that)
[1] McArthur, John, McArthur Study Bible, Revelation 16: 8
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©Effie Darlene Barba, 2025
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