The Holy Spirit has John tell the church of all ages that God’s wrath as poured from the first bowl prompts a reaction on “the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.” In other words, some of humanity are directly affected by these ashes, not all. John had earlier mentioned the “mark of the beast” in Revelation 13:16–17 as well as those who worship it in Revelation 13:15 (see commentary on those passages for detail). Of importance now is the proclamation of the angel of Revelation 14:9 and the fact that those who refused to listen to his message (including the proclamation of the angels of Revelation 14:6–11) would experience the full measure of God’s judgment. This is the principle of Deuteronomy 25:2 and Luke 12:47–48: to whom more is given, of him more is required. This is a perspective that compels us to observe that peoples and civilizations that once heard the gospel and then turned from it experience the weight of God’s wrath in acute fashion.
2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.