Following the tumours, with which also Israel was afflicted if it did not listen to the Lord,2 the sea turns to blood ‘like that of a dead person’. Not only a third, but all the living creatures in the sea die. Masses of fish sometimes perish because of chemical discharge in rivers or canals. This causes a terrible smell of rotting fish and the cadavers make the water undrinkable and other life impossible. The seas, rivers and sources of water turn to blood. ‘The sea’ (the Mediterranean Sea according to some, all the seas according to others) is stricken and should in this case indeed be taken literally. Sea water becomes like the blood of a dead person, the blood of a corpse—not only in colour, but also in substance, in its composition—black, clotted, dirty, stinking. Everything dies in the waters. Earth suffers under God’s judgment, which has come as a result of people’s misbehaviour and is therefore guilt. This is completely just and right, according to the angel who pours the bowl out on the waters: blood for blood. They have shed the blood of saints and prophets. Now they must drink blood themselves. This is impossible, of course, for the first ‘plague’ in Egypt made the water of the Nile undrinkable.3 The people on earth will be in great need as a result of the repulsive pollution of the water. What will such a judgment wreak psychologically and physically for that ‘blood’ penetrates everywhere? The warning was given when the first ‘plague’ was announced: “Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”4 People can attempt to dig, maybe groundwater will remain potable for a while, but everything will be full of pollution in the end. ‘Blood for blood’. Terrible. Lack of drinkable water will be an exceptionally grave problem. And the smell! People will now no longer be able to wash, shower or take a bath. They ‘deserve’ it, according to the angel. They are presented with the bill. Pollution all over the world. The ‘victors’ had sung: “You alone are holy.”5 The angel says: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, You who are and who were; for they have shed the blood of Your holy people and Your prophets, and You have given them blood to drink.”6 The blood of righteous Abel, the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the blood of the martyrs, the blood of the six million Jews of the Holocaust, of whom a million and a half were children, the millions of unborn babies killed by abortion, all the innocent blood of God’s people that was poured out on the earth is claimed back from mankind itself. Now mankind is bathing in blood itself. “The Lord is righteous in all His ways.”7 He surveys history. He is everlasting and eternal. He was and He is and He is to come. He has seen the atrocities committed by humans in the past and is now avenging those wrongfully killed. To their surprise, the people who caused millions to be killed are now bathing in blood themselves. Shed blood is now smothered in blood. Only the blood of the Saviour saves. It even saves a murderer at the cross. The shedding of innocent blood causes the waters of the earth to turn into blood.
• Israel has experienced extreme hatred of the enemies of the people of God many times in history. Psalms 74 and 79 speak of this and call for revenge. Psalm 79:3 NIV says: “They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead,” and Psalm 83:1–2 NIV says: “O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.”
• Man has corrupted the earth and has spoiled God’s Creation by exploiting and polluting the earth and neglecting God’s Laws and the ‘laws of nature’ that I prefer to name: the ‘institutions of Creation’. Nature suffers because of the sins of man.
• The prophet Hosea 4:1-3 already warned: “Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel [and inhabitants of the earth, for that matter], for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land/earth, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land/earth. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land/earth mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, and [or: even] also the fish of the sea disappear/ shall be taken away/are dying.”
Bible References:
1.NIV 2. See Deuteronomy 28 3.Exodus 7:17–25 4.Exodus 7:19 5.Revelation 15:4 NIV 6.Revelation 11:7, 13:15, 17:6 7.Psalm 145:17
