TheologyNow

Chapter 15 of Revelation.

The dramatic pause before God’s completes pouring his wrath down on a wicked and unrepentant world.

Revelation 15
15 Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God's wrath will be completed. 2 I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory from the beast, his image, and the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. 3 They sang the song of God's servant Moses, and the song of the Lamb:

Great and awe-inspiring are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty;
righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations.
4 Lord, who will not fear and glorify Your name?
Because You alone are holy,
because all the nations will come and worship before You,
because Your righteous acts have been revealed.

5 After this I looked, and the heavenly sanctuary—the tabernacle of testimony—was opened. 6 Out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean, bright linen, with gold sashes wrapped around their chests. 7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 Then the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God's glory and from His power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

The bowl judgments are coming and with that, God wrath will be completed.  The apostle John, in heaven, sees 7 angles with the last seven plagues. He then see that sea glass that is now mixed with fire.  Again the format takes on angels and people in heaven praising God and then the judgments are poured out.  The Sea of glass could be part of the tabernacle which the priests washed themselves with.  Now its mixed with fire to purify, not just clean.  Jesus himself references a baptism of fire

Matthew 20:23-24
23 He told them, "You will indeed drink My cup. But to sit at My right and left is not Mine to give; instead, it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."

Given the fact that right after the reference of the sea of glass mixed with fire, we see those who had won victory over the beast, so indeed they had purified themselves in the tribulation.  Here these martyred tribulation saints are singing the song of Moses like what happened when God delivered his people through the red sea but when the Egyptians tried to follow the red sea came crashing down on them, killing all of who wanted to harm God’s chosen people.

Given the fact that verse 5-8 are fairly cut and dry, all that can be said is a recap of what the Bible already states but I do like how the Bible knowledge commentary describes the events in a way I could not.

Revelation 15:5-8
15:5-8. As John continued to look at the heavenly vision, he saw the temple described as the tabernacle of Testimony. The allusion to a temple in heaven seems to be the heavenly counterpart of the earthly temple. As it was opened, the seven angels with their plagues exited from it. The clean, shining linen of the angels indicates their purity, and the golden sashes around their chests point to the glory of God.

John saw one of the four living creatures give the seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God to the seven angels. When this was done, smoke filled the temple, making it impossible for anyone to enter it until the seven plagues were poured out on the earth (cf. Exodus 40:34-35). Taken as a whole, Revelation 15:5-8 presents a fearful picture of impending divine judgment on a wicked world. The judgments which are to be poured out (chap. 16) fully justify this ominous introduction.

To summarize, we have a dramatic pause, which provides a picture of heaven, where the martyred tribulation saints sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.  Praising God for who he is and it appears thankful that his wrath will be completed.  God’s reign in the millennial kingdom is around the corner but first for the unbelieving, Christ rejecting world, they must endure the seven bowl judgments and while their fate is sealed if they’ve taken the mark of the beast there still may be some who have not and perhaps through this wrath, they may realize that God wants something better for them, if only they accept his gift of salvation.

God wants fellowship with his creation but he will not force himself on people, so its reasonable to assume that those people who reject God now and choose not to fellowship with him now do not wish to spend eternity with him.  The alternative is scary because they must then pay for their own failings, sins and acts of wickedness on their own instead of leaning on the act of Christ who took on their punishment, if only they’d accept it.  Regardless, people have a choice, God gave us free will and so they are free to go their own way.

Doing vs. Being.

I’m taking a break from my Bible of study of the book of Revelation. This passage struck me while reading it to my children one night.

Matthew 13:47-50
47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus being a great teacher used different parables throughout his ministry to teach about how during the end times, the angels will separate the righteous and the wicked.  Matthew 7:21-23 touches upon this and clearly there will be those in the wicked camp that will cry out to Jesus stating they worked for him.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' 23 Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!'

1 Samuel 15:22
22 Then Samuel said:
Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

Just because people are involved in ministries or are faithful in attending church means they’re guaranteed to go to heaven.  Its not our outward profession that matters but rather what’s in our heart.  How many times have we sat in the pew only to look at the our watch waiting for the service to get over, or inwardly groaning when we see a missionary come up to give the message. We all know that when missionaries talk, the service ALWAYS runs long.  How can our desire to escape church be glorifying to God.  How can we worship the One true God when we’re aching to leave his presence. 

Matthew 22:37-40
37 He said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."

God calls us to love him with ALL of your heart, soul and mind. If we were to practice that with sincerity, we’d look less at our watches and more towards him raising up our hands in worship.  Loving God or the lack of love has been on my heart so much so that Revelation 2:1-7 has been convicting me greatly.

Revelation 2:1-5
2 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
"The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of My name, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

The church of Ephesus started by the Apostle Paul was a great church and many years later God writes a letter to them, he commends them for being vigilant, rooting out evil, and possessing endurance but yet they lacked the love that should mark a Christian.  God does not want us to be busy on missions boards, or outreach committees.  He wants our total undivided love and attention, its out of our love for God that we should be active in his ministry.

While its important for us to be active in our local churches, the motivation should be out of love. I look in the mirror and I see an Ephesian Christian.  I’m great at being vigilant, rooting out evil, and talking the talk but I’m a weak on my love for God and even weaker on my love for my neighbor. Sometimes its best to get back to basics and what is more basic then

John 3:16
16 "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

His sacrifice on the cross was for my disobedience, my pride, my selfishness. I cannot work myself into heaven Matthew 7:21-23 shows us that as well as Isaiah 64:6

Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

How often have we tried to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul today?  Our busyness should not be our defining character trait to the world but rather our love for God and thanksgiving to him for paying the penalty for our disobedience.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself”

What more can be said then this.

Revelation 14

Chapter 14 of Revelation switches us from what’s occurring on earth back to heaven and we see the 144,000 first introduced revelation 7 is now here in heaven.

Revelation 14:1-5
1 Then I looked, and there on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was also like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from the human race as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Its possible based on Revelation 12

Revelation 12:6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days.

That the 144,000 were protected supernaturally for 3 1/2 years but after which that protection was lifted and they were martyred.  Revelation 14 depicts that the 144,000 have a special role in heaven. They have a song that no one else can learn and they follow the Messiah where ever he goes.

Revelation 14:6-7
6 Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: "Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

This is a very interesting passage because for the first time in creation an angel gets to proclaim the gospel.  Up to this time, the building up of the church, the saving of souls were left to us imperfect, and sinful creatures. Now as the time comes for God’s judgment to finish being poured down on mankind, time is running out for people to decide if they want to accept his gift of salvation or suffer the consequences of rejecting his love and companionship.

Revelation 14:8-13
8 A second angel followed, saying: "It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath." 9 And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12 Here is the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus."
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."

"Yes," says the Spirit, "let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!"

The prior passages details the destruction of Babylon and its fate being sealed because of  its wickedness and then provides contrasting outcomes between the wicked and the righteous.  Firstly any person who by received the mark of the beast (the antichrist) and worshipped him or his image will be condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire. Make no mistake, while there are denominations, or groups of the Christian church that deny or minimize eternal damnation, they do so not based on the God’s word.  Chapter 14 is exceptionally explicit in detailing the consequences of rejecting God.  While it is difficult to fully fathom eternal damnation, make no mistake that the Bible does teach that those who reject Jesus Christ will suffer that fate and its immaterial whether we agree or understand fully that concept.  In other words just because we cannot fully grasp eternal damnation does not make it any less true.

Revelation14:14-20
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17 Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the sanctuary in heaven. 18 Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from earth's vineyard, because its grapes have ripened." 19 So the angel swung his sickle toward earth and gathered the grapes from earth's vineyard, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses' bridles for about 180 miles.

The chapter closes with some very sobering imagery. We have the Messiah sitting on a cloud with a gold crown getting ready to judge the wicked on the earth and the impending judgment is so severe that the blood of men flowed so deep to be almost 5 feet around Jerusalem for 180 miles.  Earlier passages indicate great armies of the world trampling the “city” (Jerusalem) for 3 1/2 years so judgment is now being cast down and those people are bearing the wrath of God because they received the mark of the beast and worshipped the beast.

Chapter 14 finishes up some of the symbolism that is used and filled us in on what’s occurring in heaven during the time of the great tribulation. It shows that God is in control of all events and while we may not fully comprehend the who and why, we do see that he waits for the right time.  An angel  came out of the sanctuary stating in a loud voice that the time to cast judgment is at hand. That shows that creator and savior of the world is waiting and wanting those he created to turn to him.  The time is coming when that opportunity ceases.  Those that receive the mark seal their own fate with that mark.  Chapter 15 closes with the idea that the time to choose sides, For God or against God is coming to a close and anyone who fails to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins must face the consequences.