What does Revelation 16:17 mean?

When the seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, a loud voice from the temple, from the throne, declared, "It is done!" To this point, the seventh instance of a series of judgments was made up of the next series. God's first judgments in the tribulation are seal judgments; the seventh seal is primarily made up of the trumpet judgments. The trumpet judgments are next, and the seventh trumpet judgment is mostly composed of the bowl judgments. God's third and last set of judgments are the bowls. Each series increases in intensity, and now the judgments conclude with the definitive and terrible seventh bowl judgment.

This instance is described as the angel pouring his bowl "into the air," but unlike the other bowls, what follows doesn't seem specifically targeted at the item the angel pours into. This angels' action might suggest the judgment is especially wide-ranging, covering the entire earth. What's described in the following verses certainly fits that interpretation. It might also be a reference to an attack on Satan, who is sometimes described as "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2).

Once this bowl is poured, God declares the end to His judging. Once the events of this bowl judgment are completed, the tribulation will be finished and the end times will move into their final stages. "It is done!" is similar in meaning to what Jesus declared from the cross about His work of redemption. John 19:30 tells us, "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." While Jesus used the Greek term tetelestai from the cross, implying a fulfilled payment, this verse uses the word gegonen, which more literally means something is completed or finished. Those who refused to accept the finished work of Jesus on their behalf will face the full judgment of God.