Revelation 16 reveals God’s judgments on the Earth in the second half of the tribulation. With these judgments, the wrath of God is complete. At the close of the seven bowl judgments, Christ returns with the armies of Heaven to establish the millennial (1,000 years) kingdom (Rev. 20: 1-7).

Chapter 16 is introduced in Chapter 15. There we first see the seven angels emerge from the temple in Heaven with the seven plagues. Their appearance in chapter 15 follows John’s vision of those who had victory over the kingdom of the Beast by their martyrdom. He sees those who died because they refused to receive the mark of the beast, and they sing the song of Moses and the Lamb in Heaven before the throne.

Chapter 16 takes place after the 144,00 Jews have been “harvested” from the Earth. At this point, those alive on the earth are followers of Satan, working through the antichrist and false prophet. In chapter 16, God begins the judgments of wrath by commanding the angels to pour out the bowls on the Earth. The seven bowl judgments complete God’s wrath on the earth.