“Revealing the Revelation”
“The Beginning of the Wrath”
February 21, 2010
Chapter 15
I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."
After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
In our last study we concluded with the earth being reaped. The angels swung their sickles and the wicked were thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. Although the wine press was in a particular place – outside the city – and the blood that flowed was measurable, 800 miles and as high as a horses bride, we concluded that it was probably symbolism. The point was that the wicked will be overcome and righteousness will eventually prevail. I believe that the specificity of this chapter has some significance. I believe it is important. I also believe we will probably only understand it at the proper time.
In this chapter John sees another great vision and sign. That means the last one was conclude and this is something new. He sees seven angels with seven last plagues. He plainly states that these are the ‘last’ plagues. There will be no more. God’s wrath is complete. God’s ‘hot, passionate, anger” is complete with this last act. It is finished.
I want you to understand that God is always holy; always loving; always good. Sometimes we have a hard time understanding the wrath of God – which Strong’s Greek Lexicon defines as a ‘hot, emotional, anger”. In our understanding and experience, we think of an angry father. Maybe we ticked him off and in hot, passionate anger, he smacked us or beat us. And it is usually excessive and wrong.
God’s wrath isn’t like that. He is holy and good – always. This wrath is kind of like if you saw someone abusing a child. Would that not make you angry? It is like someone hurt an innocent defenseless individual. That ought to make you hot. That ought to make you emotional or passionate. If not – something is wrong with you. Evil angers the good. We ought to get angry more often!
So our holy, good, pure hearted, loving Father, has had enough. He has seen enough. He can tolerate no more wickedness and rebellion. But he still loves – and He sends seven angels with seven bowls filled with His wrath – and His love. Can it be both? I think so. I think His motivation for these bowls is to give these wicked people one last chance. He wants to make it so painful to rebel against Him that the wise thing to do – the smart thing to do – would be to repent. But they don’t. Still – God is not angrily getting even. He is lovingly hoping His rebellious creation will repent.
John sees in his vision some righteous people. He says,
“I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb”
The sea generally refers to people – so it seems to me that John sees a sea of people, who had been through the fire. Beside them were a very special people. They were those who had been victorious. The others, the sea of people, had been though the fire – but they were not victorious. The victorious ones were victorious over the beast; they were victorious over the statue or whatever his image was, and they were victorious over the number of his name – which was 666. My feeling is the number 666 represents money. These people that John first shared his vision with were familiar with the Old Testament. They had read in Kings and in Chronicles about Solomon’s 666.
“The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents” (1Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13)
So I think that these people may have won the victory over money. They overcame the beast of greed that so easily ensnares us. Greed can be a beast. It can devour our lives. They overcame materialism. So they overcame the number of the beast; they overcame the image of the beast and they overcame the Beast, himself. How did they do it? John gives us a clue in one of his other books. He says,
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
1 John 5:4
How do we overcome? How do we overcome the world? How do we overcome the Beast and his image and number? The answer: By faith. Faith is so important. Faith is the way to victory. Faith is the only way to please God. The Bible says,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6
Your faith makes it possible for you to please God. Faith makes it possible for you to overcome the enemy and be victorious in the Last Days. So let’s take a good look at this thing called faith.
If you look up faith in the dictionary you will find this definition:
“Confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief not based on proof”
If you look up faith in a Greek lexicon you will find:
pisteuo pist-yoo'-o; to entrust --believe, commit, put in trust with.
We say things like “I have faith in you.” Or “I have faith the rope will hold.” We use the word all the time – but what does it mean? How can we understand it better? How does it relate to victory?
I’m glad you asked! Let me share my investigation of the word. I have found that real faith always have three elements in it. Belief, trust, action – AND it is always preceded by a revelation. For example, if you say you have faith the rope will hold, someone told you that fact and you intellectually believe that. You trust (maybe with your life) and you act. So if I am climbing down a cliff, I have faith in the rope. I believe it will hold; I trust it; and I act but putting my weight on it.
Abraham was the example of faith in the Bible. God (testing him) told him to go and sacrifice his son, Isaac to Him. Abram, as he was called at that time, believed God wanted him to do this, he trusted God (Hebrews says he believed God would bring his son back to life again if he obeyed) and he acted. He took his son on a mountain, brought wood, built and alter, tied his son up and placed him on the wood on the alter, and raised his knife to plunge it into his beloved son –before the angel stopped him. God’s revelation, belief, trust, action = faith.
What does that mean to you? Are you living by faith? Let’s test you. God reveals His will to you. You can take any of the ten commandments or any command God has revealed to you. Do you belief this is God’s will and revelation? Do you trust Him? Are you acting by obeying?
You probably picked out something you do pretty well at – but let’s pick out something relevant and very clear. God says,
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Malachi 3:10
Tithing is a clear command of God. Tithing is 10 percent of our increase – or our pay check. Tithing has to do with 666. It has to do with money and greed and selfishness. Do you believe this command is a revelation from God? Some people don’t. I have seen to go to elaborate lengths to show it doesn’t relate to them. If you believe this is God’s word and will for you - then the question is “Do you believe He will bless you if you tithe – or is God a liar? Do you trust Him or not? If you do – you will act. You will tithe 10 percent of everything you make. If you don’t – you won’t. And usher prayed over the offering one time, “No matter what we say or do- this is what we think of you.”
Tithing is a simple, common way to see how strong or weak our faith is. Do you tithe or don’t you. If you don’t – then you: 1) haven’t received God’s revelation, or 2) you know this is God’s will but you don’t believe Him. You believe He is a liar. Or, 3) you don’t trust God’s word. Faith is the victory. We overcome by faith.
So how do we get it? Good question. It is one the disciples asked.
“The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5)
I want you to hear how Jesus answers this very, very important request.
6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
7"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "
Luke 17:6-10
In response to this request, Jesus first commends them for it, and then tells them the result of having what they requested – GREAT POWER! Then in 3 short verses he tells them how to acquire faith. You obey. You act. Do what the Master says, not because you love Him; not because you get paid for it; not for a great reward; not out of fear – but simply because He is the Master and He asked you to do something. In other words, put the Master’s will before your own. Put the Master’s desires before your own. Be so committed to the Master that you don’t even think about motive. You just do His will. No argument. No resentment. No questions. No motivation. Just do it! The Master reveals his will. You believe; you trust; you act. That how you grow in faith.
Folks, we need to grow in faith. Amen? If we want to please God – we must be men and women of faith. If we want to overcome the enemy we need to grow in faith. You do that be simply believing in God, trusting Him and acting – or obeying.
Let’s get back to the Revelation. John was standing by a sea of humanity with a group who had overcome the Beast by their faith. What were these overcomers doing? They were singing. In fact, they were playing guitars (or harps) and singing a song of praise. They were telling God that He was great! He was marvelous! He was just, true and holy. He was right in all his actions.
Why were they doing that? I think because God was in great sorrow. His wrath also caused Him sorrow. He didn’t want to do this – but He had to – if He was to be just and holy and righteous. But his love caused Him sorrow. So these overcomers; these men and women of great faith, were encouraging Him. They were singing encouraging praises to Him.
After that – God let loose the angels with the bowls of His wrath. But notice the angels. These were not just any angels. These were the best of the best. They were clean. They were shiny clean. They were dressed in white, which represents purity. They had a sash across their chest. That represented authority and honor. This dirty work; this ugly thing God had to do, was done only by the purest and the most holy. It wasn’t the least and the lowest that was given the most distasteful job, it was the highest and greatest of the angels. Is there a lesson in there for us? Does it remind you of the time Jesus washed the disciple’s feet? Jesus said if you want to be great – act like the least. Take the dirty job.
The last two verses of this short chapter are interesting to me. Listen.
“Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
I think God was so distressed, so disturbed, so in anguish over what He had to do - that the glory and power that filled the temple until the plagues of the seven angels were done, was because of His great sorrow. God didn’t delight in this terrible thing. It’s kind of like a parent grieves when he has to disciple his children. I think God was deeply pained to have to do this. This was an expression of His love. Even God’s wrath is in love. Even God’s anger is holy. We will get into this more in the next chapter – but God was pouring out these painful vials in hopes that the rebellious sinner would repent. He was giving them one last chance. He was making things so painful for these people that you would think they would turn to God for mercy. They kind of did that to me. I remember going to detention, staying after school, even getting a spanking or two. Sometimes I did repent. My action changed. That’s God’s desire. But after each vile John sadly declared in astonishment, “STILL they would not repent!”
Have you repented yet? God so wants you to turn from your selfishness and rebellion that leads to death and misery. He so wants you to come to Him. When we started this study in Revelation, we saw Jesus in the third chapter. Listen to those words again.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Revelation 3:20-21
Do you know Jesus wants you to sit with Him on a throne? That’s what you were created for. Do you know that Jesus wants to have an intimate relationship with you – like when we have supper with our loved ones? Do you know He wants you to overcome? He wants you to overcome sin and selfishness. He wants you to overcome temptation and the flesh. He wants you to overcome the devil and the Beast.
And He stands at the door of your heart and asks to come in. He gently knocks. He softly speaks. Only the willing hear His voice and respond by opening the door of their hearts to Him. Will you open the door of your heart to Him right now? Trust Him. Believe Him. Whatever He asks you to do – Obey. Pray a pray like this:
Jesus,
I am so sorry for being so faithless and disbelieving. Help my unbelief. Forgive me for my sins. Jesus I thank you for protection and power. I thank you for the plans you have for me. Thank you for the fantastic future you are preparing me for. Help me to overcome everything in this life that would hinder my relationship with you. Make me a person of faith. Give me the grace to obey you in everything. With your help – I will overcome.
“I Will Serve Thee”
