The Seven Bowl Judgments – Part 2

Summary

Grace in Focus Podcast Summary

Episode: The Seven Bowl Judgments – Part 2
Date: December 24, 2025
Hosts: Bob Wilkin & Philippe Sterling
Podcast: Grace in Focus (Grace Evangelical Society)
Duration: 13 minutes

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Overview of the Episode

In this follow-up to yesterday’s episode, Bob Wilkin and guest Philippe Sterling continue their exploration of the seven bowl judgments from the book of Revelation—God’s climactic wrath during the Great Tribulation. Today’s focus is on the 6th and 7th bowl judgments: the drying up of the Euphrates River to usher in the great end-times battle, and the cataclysmic earthquakes and hailstones preceding Christ’s return. Throughout, the hosts tie these prophecies to broader biblical themes of judgment, darkness, vigilance, and hope, connecting them with encouragements for believers in every age.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Recap of the First Five Bowl Judgments

(01:04–01:57)

• Sores ("Derma Bowl"): Painful sores break out on people.
  • Philippe: “Dermatologists who are skin doctors— they’ll be in high demand during this judgment.” [01:22]
• "Alabama Bowls":
  • Seas Turned to Blood: “Of course, the Alabama crimson tide, you know, the seas turning to blood.” [01:31]
  • Freshwater Turned to Blood: “The inland water raised, the rivers, the springs, the fountains, lakes, presumably.” [01:36]
• The Sun Bowl: Scorching heat from the sun.
• The Dark Bowl: The beast’s (Antichrist's) kingdom filled with darkness: “So painful, even now.”
• Spiritual Meaning:
  • Bob: “God is light…Satan is darkness. He’s the father of lies. And his kingdom is the kingdom of darkness.” [02:04]
  • References: 2 Peter 2:17; darkness as the final undoing of Satan’s realm.

2. The Sixth Bowl Judgment: Drying Up the Euphrates ("Dried River Bowl")

(03:03–06:05)

• Event: Euphrates River dries up, preparing the way for “the kings of the east” to gather for battle.
• Demonic Activity: “Three demonic frog-like creatures…call forth all the armies of the east…drying up the Euphrates to allow them to come to Armageddon.” [03:13]
• Historical Note: The Euphrates is “one of the original four great rivers…that flowed out of Eden.” [04:06]
• Purpose: This judgment readies the world for the ultimate confrontation between Christ and the forces led by the Beast, intent on destroying Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
  • Philippe: “It’s preparing for the great culminating battle…for the final destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish people.” [04:27]
• Spiritual Deception:
  • Bob: “They are spirits of demons, performing signs…to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. So it sounds like these signs…will of course be false signs.” [04:42]
• Atmosphere of Dread:
  • Bob: “It’s kind of an interlude that’s scary because people know that this great conflict is about to occur. It’s like, you know, in all those movies where it’s dum dum, dum dum.” [05:42]

3. Watchfulness and Jesus’ Warning

(06:13–08:03)

• Reference to Jesus’ warning, “I am coming as a thief” (Revelation 16:15).
• The importance of spiritual vigilance:
  • Bob: “We’re all to be watchful believers. Even though we won’t be in the tribulation, we’re to be watchful for the Rapture, but people who are in the tribulation are to be watchful for the Second Coming.” [07:36]
• The Greek verb for ‘watching’ is “gregoreo”—where the name Gregory comes from.

4. Interpretation of the Parable of the Ten Virgins

(08:03–09:49)

• Parable applies both to church-age and tribulation believers (referencing Zane Hodges’ ABCB parable structure).
• Significance:
  • Some believers are prepared (watchful), others are not, and may perish prior to Christ’s return due to lack of spiritual readiness.
  • Bob: “Those five [unprepared] represent believers who died during the second half of the tribulation because they did not develop sufficient spiritual strength…they weren’t watchful.” [09:10]
  • Philippe: “That impacts our rewards and everything in ruling with Christ.” [09:49]

5. The Seventh Bowl Judgment: The Great Earthquake and Hail ("Elvis/All Shook Up Bowl")

(10:00–10:57)

• Global Earthquake: “The whole earth gets all shook up here…every city of the world is leveled, completely destroyed.” [10:05, 10:07]
• Enormous Hailstones: “Large hailstones…weigh[ing] a talent…about 75 pounds.” [10:29–10:34]
• Metaphorically called “Elvis bowl — all shook up.”
  • Bob: “A 75-pound hailstone is going to shake up things big time. This kind of hail may knock down houses.” [10:39]
• Precursor to Armageddon: “It’s going to be in anticipation of Armageddon.” [10:57]
• Armies of the world gather in the valley of Megiddo for the climactic confrontation with Christ.

6. Armageddon: Meaning and Setting

(11:01–12:29)

• Bob: “‘Har’ is the Hebrew word for mountain. And Megiddo is a place. So ‘Har Megiddo’ is where we get the expression Armageddon." [11:23]
• Philippe (describing the location): “There’s a Tel there…multiple buildings…rose up to form a great mound…You can go up it and it’s quite high and view the valley that extends all the way out to Jerusalem from there.” [12:08]
• Historical note: Napoleon recognized the valley’s military potential.

7. Theological Significance: The End of God’s Wrath

(12:29–12:54)

• The bowl judgments signal the completion of God’s wrath.
  • Bob: “These judgments will actually be a good thing because they will be an end to wickedness on the earth.” [12:29]
  • Philippe: “With these judgments, the wrath of God is complete…It is done. Similar to the words of Jesus on the cross.” [12:40]
  • Bob/Philippe: “‘It is finished.’” [12:52]

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. But Satan is darkness. He’s the father of lies. And his kingdom is the kingdom of darkness.”
  — Bob Wilkin [02:04]

• “It’s preparing for the great culminating battle that will occur between Christ and the kingdom of the beast…”
  — Philippe Sterling [04:27]

• “They are spirits of demons, performing signs…to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.”
  — Bob Wilkin [04:42]

• “We’re all to be watchful believers. Right? Even though we won’t be in the tribulation, we’re to be watchful for the Rapture, but people who are in the tribulation are to be watchful for the Second Coming.”
  — Bob Wilkin [07:36]

• “A talent of gold throughout much of the Old Testament period was about 75 pounds.”
  — Philippe Sterling [10:34]

• “These judgments will actually be a good thing because they will be an end to wickedness on the earth.”
  — Bob Wilkin [12:29]

• “With these judgments, the wrath of God is complete. It is in fact…the statement will be ‘It is done.’ Similar to the words of Jesus on the cross.”
  — Philippe Sterling [12:40]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Recap of First Five Bowls: 01:04–01:57
• Spiritual Meaning of Darkness & Unholy Trinity: 01:57–02:46
• Sixth Bowl—Dried Euphrates & Army Gathering: 03:03–06:05
• Jesus’ Thief-in-the-Night Warning: 06:13–08:03
• Parable of the Ten Virgins Application: 08:03–09:49
• Seventh Bowl—Earthquake & Hailstones ("All Shook Up"): 10:00–10:57
• Armageddon Geographic & Historical Context: 11:01–12:29
• Completion of God’s Wrath—Theological Significance: 12:29–12:54

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Summary Takeaways

• The final bowl judgments are both terrible and necessary, signaling the end of evil's dominion and the coming of Christ.
• Spiritual vigilance is emphasized for all believers, regardless of their era.
• The “Elvis bowl”—an earthquake and hail of unprecedented scope—heralds the final confrontation at Armageddon.
• These events fulfill God’s ultimate promise: “It is finished.”

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This summary preserves the instructive and conversational tone of the hosts while structuring the teaching for reference and study, providing highlighted moments and context for anyone wanting a comprehensive yet clear understanding of this Grace in Focus episode.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. We are continuing from yesterday's episode to talk about the seven bowl judgments in the book of Revelation. This is part of the great tribulation. God pouring out his wrath on the nations for rejecting him. And today we look at the sixth and seventh bowl judgments. Unprecedented earthquakes, great hailstones, horrible and amazing. Glad you've joined us, friend. This is Grace in Focus. We are a ministry of the Grace Evangelical society. Our website, faithalone.org right now we're telling people about our national annual conference coming up in 2026, May 18th through the 21st. Right now there is an early bird registration and we also waive our registration for first timers. So take advantage of those. Get all the information you need at our website, faithalone.org events. And now with today's discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Philippe Sterling.

[B]

We're in the bowl judgments. The seven bowl judgments, part two. We're going to be looking at the last two. So what are the first five we had? The derma bowl.

[C]

Yeah, the derma bowl. The sores on the skin dermatologists who are skin doctors.

[B]

They'll be in high demand during this judgment. And then we've got two Alabama bulls.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

What are those?

[C]

Of course, the Alabama crimson tide. You know, the seas turning to blood.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And then the inland water raised the rivers, the springs, the fountains, lakes, presumably. That's right. So that would be three and four.

[B]

Relates to the sun now, the scorching.

[C]

Heat of the sun.

[B]

So the sun bowl and then the opposite of the sun bowl is the dark bowl.

[C]

Yes, the kingdom of the beast turned to total darkness. So painful even now.

[B]

By the way, we didn't discuss this the last time, but there is something ironic about that because in scripture, God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. But Satan is darkness. He's the father of lies. And his kingdom is the kingdom of darkness. And in fact, in Second Peter chapter 2 and verse 17, it says, for whom the darkness is reserved forever, the blackness of darkness. Yeah. And so actually this darkness is associated with Satan and his kingdom. Right, right.

[C]

And so here this is the kingdom of the beast. So the kingdom is turned to darkness, reflecting of the fact that it is.

[B]

It's called the unholy trinity, isn't it?

[C]

Yes. The dragon who is the devil of old, Satan, the serpent of old, and the beast from the sea, which is the. We just call him the man of sin, you know, the beast and the beast from the earth, who is the false Prophet who. Who gets the whole world to worship the beast.

[B]

Okay, so we've got those five bowls followed by two more. Now, the sixth bowl we're calling the dried river bowl.

[C]

Yes. Well, we're told here that the Euphrates river is dried up. And by the way, we're told too that it's three demonic frog like creatures who go out of the mouth of the dragon and of the beast and of the false prophet to call forth all the armies of the east, basically, and drying up the Euphrates to allow them to come to homageddo.

[B]

But that's also part of the. One of the judgments, right? That's one of the bowl judgments.

[C]

Yes, the bowl judgment is a drying up of the Euphrates river in preparation for laying the way open for the vast armies of the world, basically, to gather together in the valley of Megiddo.

[B]

Why would this be a terrible thing for people on earth if the Euphrates. Of course, the Euphrates is one of the original four great rivers, right, that.

[C]

Flowed out of Eden and the Tigris.

[B]

And Euphrates have long been known to.

[C]

Be the creator of empires.

[B]

Right.

[C]

That's where Babylon and then with Nineveh too, just in that area between the Tigris and the Euphrates.

[B]

So why is this sixth bull, the dried river bull, why is this a terrible judgment?

[C]

Well, it's preparing for the great culminating battle that will occur between Christ and the kingdom of the beast and the armies of the world as they come for the final destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish people.

[B]

Okay. And it does say that the spirits of demons, for they are spirits of demons, verse 14 of chapter 16. They are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and to the whole earth to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. So it sounds like these signs they will be producing will of course be false signs, right?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And basically, then it sounds like this dried river bowl is going to be a prelude to the seventh bowl judgment, so that even though it in itself is not causing great pain other than the loss of the water.

[C]

Right. It's not like the sun bowl and all the others, you know, that we have. But it's preparation for the coming of Christ and the great feast. All the birds of the air will be called to feast on all the bodies that will be decimated.

[B]

But in many ways, it's kind of an interlude. That's scary because people know that this great conflict is about to occur. And it's like, you know, in all those movies where it's dum dum, dum dum, it's kind of like that. Right. So that even though nothing particularly terrible is happening at this point, it's very frightening.

[C]

Yeah. You sense there's going to be this great sense of worldwide calamity. You sense that will occur.

[B]

Now notice in 1615, Jesus in the Olivet discourse said he was coming as a thief in the night. And the Apostle Paul picked up on that on 1st Thessalonians 5, referring to the Rapture, and Peter picked up that in 2 Peter 3, ultimately talking about the destruction of the current heavens and the current earth, but as part of the day of the Lord, that the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night. Now here we get the thief in the night imagery again. And I have a red letter edition and verse 15 is in red.

[C]

Yes, Jesus speaking. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked. And to see his shame Just jumping.

[A]

In here to make you aware of our magazine, Grace in Focus. It is a bi monthly, six issues per year, 48 page magazine, full color, and we want you to subscribe by emailing your name and your snail mail address to gesaithalone.org the subscription is free. It can be accessed electronically or can be actually physically sent to you if you live in the lower 48 United States. That's our Grace and Focus magazine. Send your name and snail mail address to ges faithalone.org okay, so now watching.

[B]

Is also found in the Olivet discourse and Matthew 24, and it's also found in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. The word for watching, the Greek verb is gregoreo. We get the name Gregory and we're all to be watchful believers. Right? Even though we won't be in the tribulation. We're to be watchful for the Rapture, but people who are in the tribulation are to be watchful for the Second Coming.

[C]

Yes, and particularly believers, of course, in one of the parables of the 10 five who were prepared and five who were unprepared. So even for believers, Jesus is going to come suddenly, and they are to look for that and anticipate that.

[B]

Okay, so the parable of the ten virgins is Matthew 25, 1:13, also part of the Olivet discourse. And I should point out that Zayn Hodges made an interesting observation that Starting in Matthew 24:45 till the end of chapter 25, there are three parables followed by the judgment of the sheep and the goats. So four elements. And he said the elements go a B, A B. The two A elements refer to church age believers. The two B elements refer to tribulation age believers. So 2445,51 refers to believers. Right. Now, the parable of the just and the unjust Serve. The parable of the 10 virgins refers to 10 tribulation believers. And when the midnight cry goes out, that's the abomination of desolation, right?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Five are ready. They've got extra oil and they can keep their torches burning or their lamps burning, depending on your translation. And the other five, don't those five represent believers who died during the second half of the Tribulation because they did not develop sufficient spiritual strength in the first half? And so they weren't watchful, they didn't remain watchful. And this point here in 1615 applies to believers of every age. That we should be watchful, whether we're in the church age or the Tribulation age. We should be watchful for the Lord's soon return.

[C]

Yes. And that impacts our rewards and everything in ruling with Christ.

[B]

Okay, so this opens up to the seventh bowl judgment, and which we call the Elvis Bowl.

[C]

One of the songs that Elvis was known for is I'm All Shook Up.

[B]

The whole earth gets all shook up here, right?

[C]

Yeah, the seventh bull. There are vast earthquakes throughout the world and we're told that every city of the world is leveled, completely destroyed. And then in addition, there's large hailstones that come upon all of the earth. And we're told that the hailstones weigh talent.

[B]

And how much is a talent? I guess it depends which time period you're looking at.

[C]

Yes. A talent of gold throughout much of the Old Testament period was about 75 pounds.

[B]

So a 75 pound hailstone is going to shake up things big time. This kind of hail may knock down houses. And so we call this seventh bowl the Elvis bowl or the all shook up bowl. And it's going to be in and anticipation of Armageddon, right?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

This is followed by the great battle at the end of the seven years.

[C]

Yes. That will lay the scene for the return of Christ with his holy ones and with all the host of heaven to confront these armies that were gathered by these three demonic fog like beings that perform signs to gather them all, presumably by tens and perhaps a few hundred million to come to homagehetto to the great feast of the Lord, that.

[B]

It'S also called so har is the Hebrew word for mountain. And Megiddo is a place. So Har Megiddo is where we get the expression Armageddon, but it's really Har Megiddo.

[C]

Yes, the mountain of Megiddo. I've been to Israel and there's a tell there. A Tel is where basically there have been multiple buildings and to the millennials, you know, that were there and gradually rose up to form a great mound. So Tell is really a great mound.

[B]

Tell is one L, right? T E L, not two elves.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And so when we're saying there's a tell, we're not saying someone was saying something. We're talking about this excavation site, basically, where archaeologists have done all these studies. And you say you've seen a tell.

[C]

At that's called the Tell of Megiddo. Called Megiddo. And you can go up it and it's quite high actually, and view the valley that extends all the way out to Jerusalem from there, from the north. And in this great valley, even Napoleon one time was there and he viewed that whole valley and said, oh, this will be a great marshaling area for a great army.

[B]

Well, thank you, Philippe. I have enjoyed going through these seven bowl judgments. These judgments will actually be a good thing because they will be an end to wickedness on the earth.

[C]

That's why we're told specifically in these chapters that with these judgments, the wrath of God is complete. It is in fact, the statement will be it is done. Similar to the words of Jesus on the cross.

[B]

It is finished.

[C]

It is finished.

[B]

Amen. Well, thanks so much y'. All. And remember, let's all keep grace in focus.

[A]

Be sure to check out our daily [e-mail] they are short and full of great teaching, just like what you've heard today. Find [e-mail] resources blog. We would like to thank all of our financial partners who help us keep this show going. All gifts are tax deductible and very much appreciated. If you'd like to find out how you can be a financial partner, Visit [e-mail] On our next episode what will happen at the second coming of Christ? Plan to join us and until then, let's keep grace in focus.

[C]

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[A]

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