Chapter 16
"13 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; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 15 (“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 men will not see his shame.”) 16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon."
In my Bible this chapter is titled “Bowls of Wrath.”
In my experience, this is the type of imagery most people have in mind when they hear a reference to the book of Revelation. To be sure this is an important and representative series of verses from this amazing book, but there is much more.
Just six chapters later we find the following (labeled in my Bible as “The Final Message”):
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."
Yes, if you haven’t read it lately, the book of Revelation ends with this, a message of grace and assurance that we belong to Christ and when He returns we will be quickly and miraculously safe in His presence. We can “take the water of life without cost.” Miraculous.
When I read these two parts of the Revelation, I am reminded of a message I heard many, many years ago from Billy Graham. Mr. Graham made the point with great eloquence that knowing when Armageddon will occur is immaterial; because, we will all, at death, face our own Armageddon if we have not yet entered into a saving relationship with Jesus. We will all face those “bowls of wrath” if we haven’t “taken the water of life without cost.”
My prayer? “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”