Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 16

And I heard . . .—A great voice is heard out of the temple; it bids the angels pour out their vials into the earth; later on (Revelation 16:17) the voice is heard saying, It is done. The voice is then said to come from the throne; it seems likely that the voice of the first verse is the same—the divine voice from the throne itself.

And the first . . .—Translate, And the first went forth, and so forth. The angel who receives the command departs and pours forth his vial upon the earth. All the vials are poured forth into the earth (Revelation 16:1) generally; the first angel pours forth his vial upon the earth, that is, the dry land.

And there came an evil and painful sore upon the men (that is, upon that part of the human race) who, and so forth. The plague falls on those who carry the mark of the beast, and who worship it. Like the plagues of Egypt, they are directed against those who aid the oppressor. The plague here described resembles the sixth of the Egyptian plagues, the plague of boils (Deuteronomy 28:27).

Egypt is one type of the world-power; and the plagues are used as types also, and are not to be understood literally. The plague of the “evil sore” denotes some throbbing and hateful sore, perhaps spiritual or mental, which distracts attention and disturbs the personal serenity and self-complacency of the worshippers of the world-power.

And the second angel . . .—Better, And the second (angel) poured out his vial on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man, and every soul of life died (even) the things that were in the sea. The reference to the first of the Egyptian plagues is clear (Exodus 7:20). It has been remarked that “the Egyptian plagues stood in a very close connection with the natural state and circumstances of Egypt. The Nile, which was their strength, became worse than useless when its waters were turned to blood.”

There is a similar feature here. The sea, out of which the wild beast rose, from which the world-power drew strength, is turned to blood—the blood as of a dead man, corrupt and loathsome. The sea represented the tumultuous impulses and passions of the masses; there is a certain healthy force in these, but under certain conditions, when devoted to selfishness and earthliness, they become corrupt and deadly.

Ruled by God and by right, the voice of multitudes is melodious as the voice of the sea, and the free movement of peoples, like the ocean, a health-giving moral environment to nations; but swayed by impulse, or directed by worldliness, they become an element of corruption, killing every token of better life.

And the third angel . . .—The third vial resembles the second in its effects. As it is poured out on the rivers and springs of waters, they become blood. It is not only the great sea that becomes blood, but all the merry streams and babbling brooks that carry their tribute of water seawards also turn corrupt. And this plague is acknowledged by heavenly voices as a just retribution (Revelation 16:5–7).

The streams and rivers feed the sea. They are the powers and influences that form the great popular sentiment, and these are struck by the same corruption. Men cannot worship worldliness or earthliness without degrading even those who contribute to their instruction, their recreations, and their joys to the same level. When the public taste grows corrupt, literature, for example, will also become corrupt to some degree; the up-flowing tide will colour the down-coming stream.

“The morality of a nation’s art,” writes a modern critic, “always rises to the level of morality in a nation’s manners. Morality takes care of itself, and always revenges any outrage that art may put upon its laws by either lowering the art that so offends, or extinguishing it” (Dallas, Gay Science, Vol. II., 16). This is true in an even wider sense. The loftier powers of imagination, the range of poetical elevation, are cramped and killed in a base, world-worshipping age. The streams of life grow putrid; the fresh and bright gifts of God are polluted when the ocean of public thought is unwholesome.

And I heard the angel of the waters...—That is, the angel who was set over the waters, or the angel who is, on the heavenly side, representative of the waters. (See Excursus A: On the Angels.) The angel acknowledges God’s righteousness. You are righteous... because You judged these things—i.e., because of the righteous law which these judgments manifested.

On verses 5-7:

But this state of things is declared to be a just retribution, and reasonably so; for the corruption arises because the true power of life has been rejected: it is the refusal of the good, the lack of the life-giving element, which is the secret of all death, physical, moral, spiritual.

“It is life we want when breath is scarce.” The world-power and its worshippers have driven away goodness and faith, the elements of the higher life of man; they have slain the just and the righteous, who were the salt of the earth; they have rejected Christ, who is the life of men; how can they reap anything but decay and death?

They slay the righteous; the death of righteousness leaves them nothing but the lifeless blood behind. They can no longer drink moral life from the good; there is only the legacy of death. Blood of saints and prophets they poured out; and blood You gave them to drink.