The sixth bowl: (Euphrates dried up) (16:12-16):
Unlike the other 5-bowls, this 6th bowl has no specific plague on humanity. When the turn came for the 6th angel, he poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. The Euphrates region (in 6th trumpet) is where nearly 200 million demons were bound near it and were released. The river is one of the longest rivers and its source is on the slopes of Mount Ararat which is the ice cap region (now located in Modern Turkey), has a length of 1800 KM and empties into the Persian Gulf. In ancient times, the garden of Eden was located in the vicinity of the Euphrates (Gen. 2:10-14). The Euphrates also formed the boundary of the land God gave to Israel. The nearby rivers are Tigris which both together form the lifeline of the Fertile Crescent of Israel.
By the time the 6th bowl was emptied, due to severe heat in 5th bowl, the snow cap on Mt. Ararat would have melted and vastly increased the volume of water in the Euphrates causing massive damage and flooding along its course. The bridges and transportation media would have greatly damaged. But when the 6th angel poured out his bowl on Euphrates, the river got dried up paving the way for the kings of the east to march towards the vast plains of Armageddon in the land of Philistines. God’s drying up of the river is an act of causing deadly trap to the marching nations for the invasion of the Holy land. The drying up of the Euphrates river will lead them to doom, just as the parting of the Red Sea led to the destruction of the Egyptian army.
The word “Armageddon,” does not appear in the Bible. On September 2, 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur supervised signing the peace treaty with Japan, he said: “We have had our last chance. If we will not devise something greater and more equitable (than war), Armageddon will be at our door.”The name Armageddon comes from two Hebrew words, “Har-Magedon” means the hill of Megiddo. There is no hill by the name of Megiddo, but the Megiddo region has hills surrounding it. The word Megiddo also means “place of troops” or “place of slaughter.” It is the plain of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel. The area is about 14-miles wide and 20-miles long, and forms what Napoleon called “the most natural battlefield of the whole earth.” Standing on Mount Carmel and overlooking that great plain, we can well understand why it would be used for gathering the armies of the nations.
- More than 200 battles were fought on this region. It was on this plain that Barak defeated the armies of Canaan (Judg.5:19).
- Gideon met the Midianites there (Judg.7).
- It was here that King Saul lost his life (1 Sam. 31).
- Titus and the Roman army used this natural corridor, as did the Crusaders in the Middle Ages.
- British General Allenby used it when he defeated the Turkish armies in 1917.
From a human viewpoint, it appears that the armies of the nations are gathering on their own; but John makes it clear that the military movement is according to God’s plan. The satanic trinity (Satan, Antichrist and the false prophet), through demonic powers, will influence the nations and cause the rulers to assemble their armies. They will even work miracles that will impress the rulers and cause them to cooperate. But all this will merely fulfil the will of God and accomplish His purposes. The Gentile nations will look on Armageddon as a battle, but to God, it will be only a “supper” for the fowls of the air (Rev. 19:17-21).
The outcome of the “battle” is recorded in (Rev.19). The Lord returns and defeats His enemies. Obviously, the assembling and marching armies create no problem for Almighty God. When the nations rage and defy Him, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath” (Ps.2:4-5).
In the midst the horrors, deception and war like situation, God’s encouraging word comes to the believers “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.” This is the 3rd of 7-Beatitude (1:3; 14:1; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14) given in the book of Revelation.