Verse 2
2. The first bowl 16:2
The first four trumpet judgments fall on man’s environment rather than on man himself, but the first bowl judgment falls directly on man himself. This plague resulted in some loathsome (bad) and malignant (evil) sores breaking out on the beast-worshippers (cf. Exodus 9:9-11; Leviticus 13:18-27; Deuteronomy 28:27; Deuteronomy 28:35; Job 2:7). The same Greek word, helkos, occurs in the Septuagint translation of these Old Testament passages. Beale argued that since the bowls are figurative, so are these sores. [Note: Beale, p. 814.] For him the sores represent afflictions. However the plague of boils in the Exodus was literal, so it seems this plague will be literal too. This appears to be some type of skin ulcer that breaks out on the surface of the body. Might this be the result of germ warfare (cf. Revelation 16:17)? Believers who apostatize and worship the beast may suffer from this plague (cf. Revelation 14:9-12), but the faithful will be in a safe refuge (cf. Revelation 12:13-17) or God may protect them in other ways.
"It is an awesome thought to consider almost the entire population of the world suffering from a painful malady that nothing can cure. Constant pain affects a person’s disposition so that he finds it difficult to get along with other people. Human relations during that period will certainly be at their worst." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:609-10.]
Compare the present spread of the AIDS epidemic.
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