"So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image."
(Revelation 16:2)
Throughout history, God is using every department of the universe to punish the wicked and impenitent persecutors of His people. Whoever refuses to be warned by the trumpets of judgment is 'destroyed' by the bowls of wrath. For one individual a certain calamity may be a trumpet of judgment, while for someone else that same event may be a bowl of wrath. Thus, the disease which hurled King Herod Agrippa I into hell served as a warning to others. Those who remain impenitent are cursed in the city and cursed in the field (Duet. 28:16).
At times our Lord uses vicious and incurable ulcers or any other incurable disease to hurl the wicked into hell. These come from the first bowl. Think of Herod, and remember that throughout this entire time our Lord is constantly doing this very thing. For believers in Christ the afflictions of the flesh are never bowls of wrath (Rom. 8:28). For this reason we read that this plague afflicted only those who had the Mark of the beast.
(William Hendriksen)
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