Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 16:21

"And great hail, [every stone] about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great." — Revelation 16:21 (ASV)

The seventh bowl is poured out into the air. Nothing further is said about the “air”; rather, John is concerned with the loud voice that cries out, “It is done,” or, “It has come to pass.” With this bowl, the eschatological wrath of God is completed (cf. 6:17; 21:6). Flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, and a severe earthquake occur (cf. 4:5; 8:5; 11:19). These eschatological signs symbolize the destruction of the anti-God forces throughout the world (cf. Hebrews 12:27). So great is the earthquake of God’s judgment that it reaches the strongholds of organized evil represented by the cities of the pagans. Even the great city Babylon, which seduced all the earth’s kings and inhabitants (17:2), now comes under final sentence .

The judgment of Babylon will occupy John’s attention in chs. 17–18. While the catastrophe is described in geophysical terms (islands and mountains disappearing, huge hailstones accompanying a gigantic storm), there is a question whether John intends the destruction to be merely natural or even politico-historical entities or exclusively of the unseen powers of evil. Like the Egyptian plague of hail that further hardened Pharaoh’s heart, this plague of hail falls on the unrepentant to no avail; they curse God for sending his judgment on them (cf. Exodus 9:24). By such language John describes the rising pitch of God’s wrath on the rebellious powers of the earth. His words should not be politicized as if he spoke merely of Rome or of some impending historical crisis for the church. He is speaking of the great realities of the end, when God puts down all his enemies.