Giving Them Blood to Drink

6. What takes place when the third bowl is poured out, and what words are heard from an angel and from the altar?

⁶ The third bowl of God’s anger, like the third trumpet blast, has an effect on freshwater sources. “And the third one poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters. And they became blood. And I heard the angel over the waters say: ‘You, the One who is and who was, the loyal One, are righteous, because you have rendered these decisions, because they poured out the blood of holy ones and of prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.’ And I heard the altar say: ‘Yes, Jehovah God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judicial decisions.’”​—Revelation 16:4-7.

7. What is pictured by “the rivers and the fountains of the waters”?

⁷ These “rivers and the fountains of the waters” picture the so-called fresh sources of guidance and wisdom accepted by this world, such as the political, economic, scientific, educational, social, and religious philosophies that guide human actions and decisions. Rather than look to Jehovah, the Fountain of life, for life-giving truth, men have ‘hewn out for themselves broken cisterns’ and drunk deeply of “the wisdom of this world [that] is foolishness with God.”​—Jeremiah 2:13; 1 Corinthians 1:19; 2:6; 3:19; Psalm 36:9.

8. In what ways has mankind incurred bloodguilt?

⁸ Such tainted “waters” have led men to become bloodguilty, for example, in encouraging them to shed blood on a monumental scale in wars, which in the last century took more than a hundred million lives. Particularly in Christendom, where the two world wars erupted, have men been “in a hurry to shed innocent blood,” and this has included the blood of God’s own witnesses. (Isaiah 59:7; Jeremiah 2:34) Mankind has also incurred bloodguilt by its misuse of huge quantities of blood for transfusions, in violation of Jehovah’s righteous laws. (Genesis 9:3-5; Leviticus 17:14; Acts 15:28, 29) On this account, they have already reaped sorrow by the proliferation, through blood transfusions, of AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases. Full retribution for all bloodguilt will come shortly when transgressors pay the supreme penalty, being trampled in “the great winepress of the anger of God.”​—Revelation 14:19, 20.

9. What does the pouring out of the third bowl involve?

⁹ In Moses’ day, when the Nile River was turned into blood, the Egyptians were able to keep alive by seeking other sources of water. (Exodus 7:24) Today, though, during the spiritual plague, there is nowhere in Satan’s world that people can find life-giving waters. The pouring out of this third bowl involves proclaiming that the world’s “rivers and the fountains of the waters” are as blood, bringing spiritual death to all who imbibe them. Unless people turn to Jehovah, they reap his adverse judgment.​—Compare Ezekiel 33:11.

10. What does “the angel over the waters” make known, and what testimony does “the altar” add?

¹⁰ “The angel over the waters,” that is, the angel who pours this bowl into the waters, magnifies Jehovah as the Universal Judge, whose righteous decisions are absolute. Therefore, he says of this judgment: “They deserve it.” Doubtless, the angel personally witnessed much of the bloodshed and cruelty fomented over thousands of years by the false teachings and philosophies of this wicked world. Hence, he knows that Jehovah’s judicial decision is right. Even God’s “altar” speaks out. At Revelation 6:9, 10, the souls of those who were martyred are said to be at the base of that altar. So “the altar” adds powerful testimony as to the justice and righteousness of Jehovah’s decisions.a Certainly, it is fitting that those who have shed and misused so much blood should themselves be force-fed with blood, in symbol of Jehovah’s sentencing them to death.

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“Into the Rivers and the Fountains”

The third plague has exposed “the rivers and the fountains of the waters” by statements such as the following:

“The clergy, who claim to be teachers of [Christ’s] doctrines, have sanctified war and made it a holy thing. They have delighted to have their portraits and statues exhibited side by side with those of bloody warriors.”​—The Watch Tower, September 15, 1924, page 275.

“Spiritualism [spiritism] is founded on a great untruth, the lie of survival after death and of the immortality of the human soul.”​—What Do the Scriptures Say About “Survival After Death?,” 1955, page 51.

“Human philosophies, political theorists, social organizers, economic advisers and advocates of religious traditions have resulted in no real life-giving refreshment . . . Such waters have even led the drinkers to violate the Creator’s law concerning the sacredness of blood and to engage in religious persecutions.”​—Resolution adopted at the “Everlasting Good News” International Convention, 1963.

“Not the scientific salvation, but the destruction of the human race is the thing to be expected from man himself. . . . We cannot look to all the psychologists and psychiatrists of the world to change mankind’s way of thinking . . . We cannot depend upon any international police force to be formed . . . and make this earth a safe place in which to live.”​—Saving the Human Race—​In the Kingdom Way, 1970, page 5.