‘And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, you who are and were, you holy one, because you did thus judge. For they poured out the blood of God's people (saints) and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They are worthy”. And I heard the altar saying, “Yes Oh Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments”.'
All catastrophic events in nature, and all warfare, are to be seen as God's judgments because the world is at enmity with God and attacks His people. These particular judgments are seen as like for like. They remind us that God is not only merciful but also holy and righteous. He is the Holy One. If men will not repent, then they will receive the consequence of their sin. ‘He is' therefore He acts now. ‘He was' and therefore He knows all that has been.
Note that God's suffering people are now linked with the prophets. They share their sufferings, they share their blessing (compare Revelation 11:18; Revelation 17:6; Revelation 18:20). The blood of the prophets is a regular description of persecution (Matthew 23:30; Luke 11:50-51 compare Mark 12:5) and we should note that it would be ‘required' of Jesus' generation (Luke 11:51). Thus this bowl finds its fulfilment partly in 1st century AD. The sufferings of ‘the last days' must not all be assigned to the final days of the age. And because of the shedding of the blood of the prophets, and of the martyred Christians, God will give those responsible ‘blood to drink' in their turn. They too in their turn will die violently.
‘Blood to drink'. Compare Isaiah 49:26, where the phrase speaks of death in civil war, and also Zechariah 9:15 LXX. The filling of the rivers and fountains of waters with blood therefore probably refers to blood shed in wars and wholesale death. The constant references to wholesale bloodshed in Revelation are a vivid reminder that ‘the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23). It is in total contrast with the water that the righteous are given to drink (Revelation 7:17; Revelation 22:1-2)..
These things are declared by ‘the angel of the waters', and his words are echoed by ‘the altar'. The latter idea looks back to the souls under the altar of Revelation 6:9-11. It is God's people awaiting resurrection, and awaiting God's the exercise of God's justice, who speak from the altar. The ‘angel of the waters' is on the side of good, and is probably in contrast to the falling star of Revelation 8:10 who defiles the waters. By the defiling of the waters a part of his sphere of responsibility has been under attack, but he recognises that the fact that God has allowed it is just and right because the final consequence is justice.
It is probable that behind all this blood John has in mind in the background the death of Christ. ‘Blood as of a dead man' (Revelation 16:3), ‘you have given them blood to drink' (Revelation 16:6). But whereas God's people partake in Christ's blood as a joyous thing through faith, here the unbelievers partake of blood because of the judgments coming on them. Contrast this with references to the slain Lamb and the blood of the Lamb that enhances the whiteness of the garments of God's people (Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 12:11; Revelation 19:13). Those who reject the offering of Christ on their behalf must themselves suffer as He suffered, for in their case there is none to bear it for them. Because they will not ‘drink His blood' by responding to Him (John 6:53 on) they must drink blood in another way, through death.