Revelation 15
Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
1I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. 2And 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 3and 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.
4Who 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."
5After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. 6Out 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. 7Then 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. 8And 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.
Fast and furious! These words describe the seven bowls of wrath well. Once they begin, no one can interfere or enter the presence of God in the temple. There is no coming to the mercy seat, no offering of any sacrifice for forgiveness, and no repentance. It is too late.
John tells us that this is another sign in Revelation. The word for sign here in verse 1 is saymeion, a sign:-- distinguishing mark(1), miracle(m)(2), sign(35), signs(39). This word occurs seven times, (are you surprised?), in the book of Revelation. Those places are: 12:1,3; 13:13,14; 15:1; 16:14; 19:20.
Seven signs follow the seven trumpets and include the seven bowls of wrath. Not that knowing this helps understand the details, but it reminds us that this book is filled with symbolism even in the patterns of its structure. This is verbal art.
Another word that is very important in Revelation is translated “I saw.” This word occurs 62 times in this book. John is telling us over and over and over what he “saw.” The images are described and sometimes they are explained, but often we are left to discover the meaning as best we can.
Here in Revelation 15 we see that those who have been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name are standing together celebrating and singing in the presence of God. Then, when the saints are there together before the temple of God, chapter 16 tells us how the bowls of wrath are poured out on the earth, that is, on those who follow the beast. This initiates a great day of battle and the fall of Babylon (which seems to represent a cosmic spiritual center of evil power in chapter 17 and 18, and has been interpreted to be Jerusalem, Rome, or some other political power). The center of Satanic control begins to crumble as his brief period of power comes to an end. But the enemy will not give up without a last burst of struggle that ends in his being thrown into the lake of fire forever.
One of the clear messages in the book of Revelation is that there are only two sides. One is either with the Lamb and his followers, or the Dragon, (or beast), and his followers. The Lamb and the Liar are mortal enemies with no peace possible between them. The battle between them takes place on the earth and what are at stake are the souls of men. The Lamb and his followers will ultimately rule everything, everywhere, and the Dragon and his followers will ultimately be defeated and destroyed forever. This is what Revelation tells us. Now, this is either true or it is false. To the degree that we believe in the words of this book and Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, to that degree we will stand with the Lamb and be rewarded with eternal life and spared from the wrath of God against his enemies. We are on either one side or the other. Let us stand with Jesus Christ who is the Lamb of God, our Savior and Lord!
Look again at verse two with me: 2And 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…
Notice who these are. Now, notice, where are they standing?
Some translations say they are standing “on” the sea. Others say they are standing “beside” the sea. The word in question is the greek word epi which can mean on or before or above or possibly beside. We get the prefix for the word epicenter from it. The sea of glass mixed with fire is the object, and they are standing either on it, or above it, or before it or beside it. Perhaps you may wonder what on earth that sea of glass mixed with fire is… I would have to tell you that first, it is not on earth, it is in heaven, and second that it is a place of washing and purifying so that one can come into the presence of God. All who come into God’s presence must pass through the sea, and wash in its purifying fire and water.
These who have been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name have past through it and have been purified and received into God’s presence to celebrate with him and to serve him forever.
In Revelation everyone suffers. The Lamb suffers by being slain, but he passes through it to victory. His followers suffer tribulation and trials, but they also pass through the fire of trial to victory. But what about those who are sealed by Satan and marked by the beast? What about those who bow before the enemy of the Lamb and worship the image of the beast? Do they manage to avoid suffering, by following the easy path of sin and rebellion against God?
Just listen to Revelation 16.
Revelation 16
The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath
1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." 2The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
3The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
"You are just in these judgments,
you who are and who were, the Holy One,
because you have so judged;
6for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."
7And I heard the altar respond:
"Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments."
8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
What is the response of men to these fourth and fifth bowls of wrath?
Why, do you suppose, is there no repentance?
The words, “did not repent” occur four times in Revelation. (9:20,21; 16:9,11). In these places God is punishing the wicked for their sins. Its effect is that they lash out at God and refuse to turn from their evil ways. The purpose of punishment here is not just to give payment for wrongs done, but to cause a change of heart in the perpetrator of the wrong. There finally comes a punishment that has no end. It is not for the purpose of restoration but for quarantine and destruction. The final punishment is to be shut out from the presence of God and heaven and cast into the lake of eternal torment. From there comes no repentance or cleansing. It is a fire of God that consumes. Hebrews 6:7-8; 10:26-27; 12:29.
Rejoice and be glad in the hope of Christ. Repentance is a gift from God to us! He will not always hold out the opportunity of repentance. There comes a time when all who refuse to repent will not be able to do so. It appears that the longer you give yourself to sin the less likely it is that you will repent. Eccles 8: 8 No man has power over the wind to contain it ;
so no one has power over the day of his death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Proverbs 5: 21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths.
22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.
23 He will die for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.
Thank God for allowing our hearts to be open to His grace! Is there something in your heart or life that you need to repent of right now? Listen, don’t wait another minute. Turn in humble thanks to heaven’s gift of forgiveness and grace and confess whatever sins may stand between you and the Lamb. Give him your whole heart and life!
Brothers and Sisters, the enemy doesn’t give up easily, does he. Sadly, those whom he has deceived do not repent either. Evil is so stubborn that all the wrath of God against it seems to do nothing to make it better. Ultimately, all evil must be destroyed in the lake of fire. Look carefully at the evil in this world. Know that all of it will taste the wrath of God. Flee from evil, dear student of God’s Word! Do not make peace with it. Do not let it have any place in your heart or mind. Do not participate in any evil by either word or deed. Satan’s deception is that we may hold onto some evil and be safe. This is a lie! See the truth and strive for God’s purity and holiness in all or your life. Do not settle for less than complete victory over sin and evil.
