God’s Super Bowl
Revelation 16:1-21
Today is “Super Bowl Sunday”—The champion football teams from the NFC and the AFC compete for Super Bowl glory (North Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos). It is the biggest day of the year for football fans. People will crowd into taverns, bars, and living rooms equipped with wide-screen TV’s to watch the spectacle. Some churches have even cancelled their services or will be showing the Super Bowl in their auditoriums.
There have been “super bowl” contests involving the people of God and the enemies of God in the past:
• Moses versus Pharaoh
• David versus Goliath
• Hezekiah versus Sennacherib
• The 3 Hebrew boys versus Nebuchadnezzar
• Jesus versus Satan in the wilderness
However, the greatest “super bowl” is still in the future. Every person on the face of the earth, every entity, and every spirit will be affected by this event. It is God’s “Super Bowl”—The Battle of Armageddon. Webster’s Dictionary defines “Armageddon”—The place where the final battle will be fought between the forces of good and evil. The last and complete destructive battle.
I. The CIRCUMSTANCES leading up to God’s Super Bowl.
A. Next event on God’s prophetic calendar—The Rapture (1 Thess 4:16-18).
B. The seven-year Tribulation period (Book of Revelation).
1. The Four Horsemen (Rev. 6).
2. The AntiChrist will rule― Satan incarnate. He will be worshiped as God, sitting in the Temple of God (rebuilt in Jerusalem).
3. The Mark of the Beast will be implemented (Rev. 13:16-18).
4. The Seven vials (“bowls”) of God’s wrath (Rev. 16). God’s 7 final judgments on those who rejected Him…
Have you ever heard the expression, “It couldn’t get much worse?” Well, for those who are still alive on the earth at the beginning of the last part of the tribulation things get a whole lot worse!
The bowls are poured out upon the earth 1 by 1. Each angel has a specific target. These are seven “super-bowls” of God’s
judgment!
• Bowl #1—SORES of agony (16:2). Painful boils. “Noisome” means “troublesome, vexing.”
• Bowl #2―SEAS of death (16:3). They rejected the blood that brings LIFE (Jesus) … this blood brings DEATH. The world’s shorelines lined and cluttered w/ decaying corpses of sea life / unbearable stench.
• Bowl #3―STREAMS of blood (16:4-7) — No more drinking water. Vs. 5-6— Poetic justice. They rejected the “water of life”
offered by Jesus, therefore God gives them blood to drink!
• Bowl #4―SCORCHING heat (16:8-9). Greatest heat wave in history—real global warming! Bodies scorched…a foretaste of hell right here on earth. AND … no fresh water to drink to give you relief from the heat!
Malachi prophesied this day would “burn as an oven” (Mal. 4:1-2).
God sent His S-O-N who could have saved them—Now God uses the S-U-N to judge them.
Bowl #5―SKIES darkened (16:10-11). Supernatural darkness just like in Moses’ time in Egypt…so thick you could feel it /
drive to insanity!
Hell is likened to “outer darkness.”
Jesus suffered for our sins in total darkness on the cross from the sixth to the ninth hour (noon to 3:00 pm).
Men loved darkness rather than light, and now God gives them what they wanted!
Bowl #6―SHRUNKEN river bed (16:12-16).
The River Euphrates dried up (Iraq)! 1,800 miles long / over ½ mile wide many places.
Dried up for specific reason: Kings of the east (Asian coalition) coming against Israel!
How are these armies gathered (vs. 13-14)? The Satanic trinity assembles them by deceiving them through miracles.
• DRAGON – Satan – counterfeit of God the Father.
• The BEAST / Anti-Christ – counterfeit of God the Son, Jesus.
• FALSE PROPHET – who causes the world to worship the Beast – a counterfeit of God the Holy Spirit.
v. 15—Christ’s second coming is imminent!
v. 16— The place — Valley of Megiddo
Bowl #7―SHOWER of hail (16:17-21). (v.17―“It is done…”).
THE CLIMAX—The beginning of the end. GOD’S SUPER BOWL―The Battle of Armageddon is about to begin.
One day God will say, “Enough is enough.”
II. The COMBATANTS involved in God’s Super Bowl.
(Two Teams / Sides) See Revelation 17:8-14
Partial Sermon: use this SERMON LINK for full pdf
