I may have mentioned this before, I’m sorry if I did, & forgot:—————————————————————————————————————Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
(The 2nd and 3rd angels pour their vials upon the earth’s waters.The 2nd angel pours his vial upon the sea, and the 3rd angel pours his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters.The rivers and fountains of water are plural, but the sea is singular.So, it is poured upon one specific sea, rather than the “oceans of the world”, whereas rivers / fountains are plural.It does not indicate which sea, or which rivers, or which fountains, or where.Apparently, lines 5-7 would indicate that it is where the saints and prophets had their blood shed.The sea, unless it is Galilee, would most likely be a salt water sea, like the Mediterranean.Whereas the rivers and fountains are fresh water.The rivers and fountains of water actually become blood, like in Egypt, but the sea becomes “as the blood of a dead man”.Is this like what the blood is, that is still in a body of a man that has died? Or is it like the blood spilt by the corpse of a dead man?Either way, because it becomes deoxygenated, it turns dark, almost black.Outside the body it dries up, but inside a dead body it rots.What a total contrast to the ever-fresh, pure, cleansing blood of the crucified and resurrected Jesus, which washes away our sin.So, the sea becomes as the dark rotting blood of a dead man, putrid, poisonous, and possibly infectious.The result is that every living soul dies in that sea, not only the fish, but perhaps also those in the boats and ships on that sea.Also, here are a couple of lines that may indicate it’s a singular sea in this chapter, rather than “all the oceans of the world”)
Revelation 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
(However, the rivers and fountains of water become actual blood, the bright, red, oxygenated kind.People saw blood coming down with the hail and fire with the first trumpet, but this may be more frightening and dramatic.Either this is not a worldwide plague, or else it is only for a limited time, because by the time of line 12:)
Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
(Because it says that the water of the river, not the blood, is dried up.)
(Consider the moment that these three vials are poured out:First, suddenly there is great pain on those receiving the sore - perhaps they cry out, or begin groaning or weeping.Then others hear this, then they see the sores as well as the mark, and then they smell the disgusting fetid sores.People will be terrified, and quickly get away from those with the sore, leaving them to suffer alone.Then, on the sea, people in ships or boats will communicate with those on land, what is happening, and perhaps begging for rescue.Because they watch all the dead fish coming up, and they see and smell the sea as the blood of a dead man.However, they on the shore may be too terrified to dare go out onto that sea for a rescue, leaving them to die out there, alone.On the shore people see and smell the sea as a dead man’s blood, and they see all the dead creatures washing onto the beach.Then for the rivers and fountains of water, on earth, people are shocked and terrified as they see blood, instead of fresh water.But in heaven, there is a clearer description of what is happening.There is an angel identified as the angel of the waters, yet he is not angry at this plague on the waters.Instead, he worships Jesus, first by declaring that he is righteous, for this particular judgment.Then he worships Jesus for his eternality, for his great longsuffering, for thousands of years,after the killing of so many of his saints and prophets, to wait until this time.He declares that Jesus is righteous because of the way that this judgment happens.These people on the earth are the persecutors and murders of Jesus’ own,that they, like the persecutors before them, have shed the blood of his saints and prophets,they wanted blood, now they get blood, they have to drink it, or apparently die of thirst.Persecutors in the past cannot drink blood in the present, so these are current persecutors and recent murderers of Jesus’ martyrs.)(It would seem that the beheading of the saints, who wouldn’t take the antichrist’s mark, is what may be in view, here.They either did the actual deed of cutting off someone’s head, or turned them in to be killed, or stood by and watched it all.The blood of prophets: unless there are other prophets in the tribulation, this may be referring to the two witnesses.If so, then even the antichrist is forced to drink blood, perhaps similar to what happened to Pharaoh.Apparently, this judgment would require that even piped water and bottled water, are also turned, forcing people to drink blood.It is sad that the catholic church teaches that people are drinking the real blood of Jesus for communion, but they are not.It is supposed to be the fruit of the vine in remembrance of Jesus’ shed blood.However, these people have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb, but, instead, have killed the followers of the Lamb.Now the Lamb forces them to drink blood.People will be beside themselves over this, first to see blood everywhere.But then having to drink the blood in order to not die of thirst, and even having to give it to their children to drink.Will they be terrified of possible diseases like Hepatitis C or Ebola?Drinking blood will no longer seem cute or romantic to them, like the twilight movies, but repulsive, horrifying, similar to:)
Exodus 7:17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.