Poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. The sixth Trumpet introduces war in general (see notes on Revelation 9:14). Here the Bowl brings us to Armageddon. See notes on Revelation 11:4-10. These verses are a picture-symbol. The river represents the wicked world. The unclean spirits look like frogs to show their hideous, repulsive nature. They represent the power and influence of hell introduced into the thoughts and actions of mankind. The kings from the east and the kings over the whole earth come together to war against the messianic community - MOTIVATED by hell itself! The central idea is Satan and the powers of hell at work in our world. But God uses the horror that war brings to warn the ungodly (Trumpet) and to punish the rebel (Bowl). Satan uses war in his attempt to destroy God's people. In the continuing cycle of Armageddon, Satan destroys his own followers by forcing them to fight against God and his church. Compare 2 Kings 19:32-36, which is the "picture" of the final Armageddon. That final Armageddon comes just before the Second Coming. Therefore the sixth bowl is Armageddon, and the seventh bowl is the Day of Judgment. The events of the first six bowls repeat again and again, but reach their final form just before and in connection with the Last Day.

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Old Testament