Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Revelation
Book: Revelation
Chapter: 16
Overview:
The first vial is poured out
On the
Earth, the second
On the
Sea, the third
On the rivers and fountains.
(1-7) The fourth
On
the
Sun, the fifth
On the seat of the
Beast.
(8-11) The sixth
On
the great
River Euphrates.
(12-16) And the seventh
On the
Air,
when shall follow the
Destruction of all antichristian enemies.
(17-21)
1-7 We are to pray that the will of
God may be done
On Earth as
it is done in
Heaven. Here is a succession of terrible judgments
of
Providence; and there seems to be an allusion to several of
the plagues of
Egypt. The sins were alike, and
So were the
punishments. The vials refer to the
Seven Trumpets, which
represented the rise of
Antichrist; and the fall of the enemies
of the
Church shall
Bear some resemblance to their rise. All
things throughout their
Earth, their
Air, their
Sea, their
rivers, their cities, all are condemned to ruin, all accursed
for the wickedness of that people.
No wonder that angels, who
Witness or execute the Divine vengeance
On the obstinate haters
of
God, of
Christ, and of
Holiness, praise his
Justice and
Truth; and
Adore his awful judgments, when he brings upon cruel
persecutors the tortures they made his saints and prophets
suffer.
8-11 The
Heart of
Man is
So desperately wicked, that the most
severe miseries never will bring any to repent, without the
special
Grace of
God.
Hell itself is filled with blasphemies;
and those are ignorant of the history of human nature, of the
Bible, and of their own hearts, who do not know that the more
men suffer, and the more plainly they see the