Reading for July 10th

 Read Revelation 16.1-21. In 16.1-21: The pouring out. The effects of the seven bowls mirror those of the seven trumpets--earth, sea, rivers, sun, abyss/throne of the beast, Euphrates River-only now destruction seems to be complete (compare 15.3; with 8.9). In verse 6: It is what they deserved indicates a kind  of intrinsic divine justice, evil suffers the inevitable consequences of its actions. In verse 12: The Euphrates marked the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire, beyond which lay Rome's  powerful enemy, the Parthians. In verses 15-16: Hamagedon (Hebrew for Mount Magedon) by contrast is not a place on any map; efforts to identify is with Megiddo in Palestine fail because Megiddo is a plain, not a mountain. This is a spiritual war, as the reference to coming like a thief indicates. In verse 17: It is done; the forces of evil are defeated but no battle is ever shown. The saying is reminiscent of Jesus' cry from the cross in John's Gospel: It is finished (Jn 19.30). Both rest on the conviction that the death of Jesus is the victory over evil.  Traditional signs of divine presence follow (see 4.5). In verse 19: The great city is primarily Rome (17.18) but can also be Jerusalem (11.8). In verse 21: The hundred-pound hailstones are meant to seem impossibly large, even as the other disasters here are of unimaginable proportions. Comments or Questions..