Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Revelation chapter 15 as we continue our study through the Word of God. In our study of the book of Revelation we have seen the wrath of God being poured out upon a Christ rejecting world. First we saw the seven seal judgments with their cataclysmic effects. Then came the seven trumpet judgments, again, with cataclysmic effects upon the inhabitants of this earth.
As we moved into Revelation chapters 10 through 14 John gives us a little break from these judgments of God as he fills in some of the other details of what will take place during the Tribulation Period. In chapter 10 John is given this little book to eat, which he does. And as he takes it in initially it is sweet in his mouth but as he begins to digest what was in this book, it became bitter! We said that God’s Word is sweet to our lives, it has many precious promises from God for us. But then there is the reality of God’s judgment coming upon those who have rejected Jesus. And John was told to warn the people of God’s righteous judgment that is coming and folks, we are to do the same!
As we moved into chapter 11 we saw the re-built temple in Jerusalem where the blood and grain sacrifices will start up again during the Tribulation Period. There were the two witnesses, who I believe the Scriptures tell us are Moses and Elijah. As these two come on the scene, I believe in the first 3½ years of the 7 year Tribulation Period, they will lead the 144,000 Jewish witnesses to Christ!
As we moved into Revelation chapter 12 we see Israel, Jesus, Michael the Archangel, Satan, the persecution of the remnant of Israel. A very important chapter that if you don’t understand the characters here, you will have a skewed eschatological outlook! From chapter 12 we moved into chapter 13, which reveals to us the beast out of the sea or the Antichrist who arises out of the sea of humanity or the Gentile nations. And then we saw the beast out of the earth or the false prophet who leads the world in the worship of the Antichrist or that first beast!
By the time we got to Revelation chapter 14 we saw the 144,000 Jewish witnesses who were sealed by God for protection and identification back in Revelation chapter 7, and they have made it through the Tribulation Period and they are standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem with Jesus who has returned! We also saw in this chapter the judgment of God, that final judgment upon a Christ rejecting world, the consummation of the bowl judgments! And John illustrated this by a harvest judgment where the Lord came with His sickle and harvested the overripe or rotten, the spoiled wheat and cast them into the fire to burn them. He also used the illustration of a wine press, where the grapes are overripe and full of juice and the Lord steps upon them crushing them and their juice splatters. Obviously we covered this in much more detail over the past several weeks and I just wanted to give you a quick overview of these chapters because they are setting the stage for what we will be looking at tonight in Revelation chapter 15.
You see, Revelation chapter 14 brings us to the consummation of all things, all the way to the battle of Armageddon. Now John is going to go back and fill in some of the details that will take place during this last 3½ years of the 7 year Tribulation Period and specifically the last 7 judgments or the bowl judgments!
I do realize for some, they find it hard to believe that God will pour out His wrath, that He will judge sinners. Folks, the Bible is very clear on this. We are told in Isaiah 13:6-11, “Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man's heart will melt, And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” You see, God was warning us through the prophet Isaiah that His judgment is coming against the wicked!
Also, listen to what the prophet Zephaniah had to say regarding the coming Day of the Lord in Zephaniah 1:14-18. We are told, “The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD's wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.”
Folks, God’s righteous judgment upon a Christ rejecting world seems to be just over the horizon, it is getting close. There is the danger for those who reject the true and living God, who close their ears to the truth and turn their backs on Jesus. It is as Paul warned in Hebrews 12:25-29, “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
Now, as we move into Revelation chapter 15 tonight, we will see that this is a prelude or an introduction to the bowl judgments spoken of in Revelation chapter 16. You see, the time has run its course, the iniquity of man has reached its peak and God’s wrath is going to be poured out. With that as our background, let’s begin reading in Revelation chapter 15, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE 1
John opens up by speaking of another sign he saw in heaven and as we have seen before, a sign points us to something. Here John tells us this sign is pointing us to the end of God’s wrath and seven angels holding the seven last plagues that they are about to pour out of these bowls upon a Christ rejecting world.
We have also seen in our studies that the number “7” speaks of completeness and that is exactly what John tells us will be taking place, that the wrath of God will be complete! The Greek word that John uses for “complete” is TELEO and it means to make an end of or bring to a determined goal. If this is the completion of God’s wrath, then the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments were just a warm up or prelude for what is about to come forth and it is not good!
In Biblical Greek there are two different words that are used for “wrath.” One of the Greek words is ORGE and it is the more common word that is used for God’s anger in the New Testament. It means anger from a settled disposition or temperament. But that is not the Greek word that John used here. He used the Greek word THUMOS, which is only found 11 times in the New Testament and 10 of those are found in the book of Revelation. THUMOS means a volatile or passionate anger but don’t get the idea that God has lost control. God’s anger and His judgment is not only righteous, it is also under control, He does not lose His cool you might say. But God will deal with sin, He will judge it and it will be complete, it will be fair, it will be righteous. No one will be able to say they are receiving more than they deserve! All will be judged fairly and get their just due.
Now let’s look at how patient God is. It has almost been 2,000 years since Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world and He is coming again as the Lion from the tribe of Judah to deal with sinners who have rejected Him and to set up His kingdom on this earth. It is as the Psalmist said in Psalm 103:8-12, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Now at this point in time, we see the cup of God’s anger filled and His day of wrath has come and it is about to be poured out upon a Christ rejecting world. And after it is completed, He will establish His kingdom and we long for that day!
VERSE 2
Back in Revelation 4:6 we saw the sea of glass and it is possible that the sea of glass represented the laver in the tabernacle and the temple where the priest would wash themselves or cleanse themselves before serving the Lord. It would seem that this sea of glass is a picture of the Word of God. Paul speaks of this washing with the Word of God in Ephesians 5:26 as he tells us, “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.”
But here in Revelation chapter 15 we see the sea of glass mingled with fire, why is that? The Scriptures seem to indicate that fire speaks of God’s judgment and this judgment is about to be poured out according to the Word of God!
What I find interesting here is that the tribulation saints, those who have been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ are standing upon what? The sea of glass or the Word of God! These are believers who have been redeemed during the Tribulation Period.
We saw these tribulation saints mentioned back in Revelation 7:9-17, where we are told, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’ Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Another point I want to bring out here is the victory they had and this victory was spoken of in Revelation 12:11, which says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” How did they know the truth? They stood upon the Word of God! How did they not succumb to the lies of the Devil? They stood upon the Word of God! You see folks, read and believe and apply the Word of God to your life and you will have that victory. It is by the blood of the Lamb applied to your life. It is the word of your testimony as you live out your faith showing that it is real. And it is by not loving your life to the death, which we see in the life of these tribulation saints who are now in heaven and worshiping the Lord as they are seen with harps in their hands!
In Revelation 6:9-11 we are told, “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” Now we are going to see God pour out His wrath upon those who have come against Him and His people – the wait is over!
VERSES 3-4
The first song of Moses is found in Exodus chapter 15 as Moses and the children of Israel sing praises unto God for His deliverance for them from their Egyptian bondage and their preservation from the Egyptian army as they came after the children of Israel. To give you a glimpse of what they sang, listen to a few verses from Exodus chapter 15 and this song. We are told, “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: ‘I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone. Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble.’” Exodus 15:1-7.
There is another song of Moses found in Deuteronomy chapter 32 that speaks of the faithfulness of God to bring His people out of bondage and avenge the blood of His servants. Just to give you one verse of this song, we are told in Deuteronomy 32:43, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
Now John also speaks of the song of the Lamb. As you can see, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb both express the themes of God’s faithfulness, His deliverance of His people and the judgment of His enemies. Commentator John Phillips compares and contrasts these two songs. Listen to what he had to say:
The song of Moses was sung at the Red Sea, the song of the Lamb is sung at the crystal sea; the song of Moses was a song of triumph over Egypt, the song of the Lamb is a song of triumph over Babylon; the song of Moses told how God brought His people out, the song of the Lamb tells how God brings His people in; the song of Moses was the first song in Scripture, the song of the Lamb is the last. The song of Moses commemorated the execution of the foe, the expectation of the saints, and the exaltation of the Lord; the song of the Lamb deals with the same three themes.
- John Phillips, Exploring Revelation, p. 187
Now lets look at this song these tribulation saints sing, a song of praise unto God for what He has done. Folks, that should always be the focus of our songs and our lives! And also notice that in these 2 verses the words “Your” and “You” are spoken of seven times, their focus is on the Lord and notice also that there is no focus upon themselves! That is the heart of worship – it is all about God – it is not about us! Look at how this song is broken down:
A. PRAISE THE WORKS OF
GOD (Great and marvelous are Your works)
The song opens up with praise for the works that God has done. In other words, God is omnipotent or He is all-powerful. May we not forget that. It is as the Psalmist said, “All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.” Psalm 145:10-13.
B. PRAISE THE WAYS OR
PLAN OF GOD (Just and true are Your ways)
Next we see praise for the ways or the plan of God. Yes, even in His judgments He is righteous. His plans, His ways are perfect even though we may not always understand them. In Psalm 145:17 we are told, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.”
C. PRAISE THE PERFECTION OF GOD (Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy)
Then we see the worship or praise for the perfection of God, that He is holy. You
see, because He is holy He alone is worthy of our praise! In Psalm 96:8-9 we are told, “Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
D. PRAISE THE PURPOSE OF GOD (For all nations shall come and worship before You)
Finally, the song closes with praise for the purpose of God. You see, we were created to praise God and in Revelation 4:10-11 we see that played out. This is from the KJV of the Bible and we are told, “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Also, in Psalm 66:4-5 we are told, “All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name. Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.” One day this will happen as the nations of the world, during the kingdom age, will bow before the Lord and worship Him, the very thing in which we were created for!
Now as we look at church history, when the church was started the enemy tried to squash it like a bug, the persecution was intense. Millions were put to death for their faith in Christ. And because of this the early church often called a person’s martyrdom the day of his victory! Barclay put it this way. He said, “The real victory is not to live in safety, to evade trouble, cautiously and prudently to preserve life; the real victory is to face the worst that evil can do, and if need be faithful to death.” That is what the early church did, and that is what we need to do, and that is what the tribulation saints will do, as the persecution against them by the Antichrist reaches its climax and millions are once again put to death for their faith in Christ!
VERSES 5-6
What is this temple of the tabernacle or the testimony of witness that John is speaking of here? The Greek word he uses for “temple” is NAOS and it speaks of the temple proper and I believe here it is speaking of the inner sanctuary or the holy of holies where the presence of God dwelt in the tabernacle and in the temple.
Now, what was also in the holy of holies? The Ark of the Covenant, which contained the commandments of God or the Law of God. The Law condemns sinful man but upon the Ark, covering the Law was the mercy seat where God dwelt between the Cherubim. This is the place where the High Priest would come on the Day of Atonement and pour out the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat, covering the Law. You see, by the shed blood of Christ our sins are covered and we can obtain the grace and mercy of God!
Then why do we see these angels come forth from the holy of holies in heaven to pour out God’s judgment? Because man has rejected Jesus and thus, they will not receive the mercy of God but His judgment as their sins are naked and open before the Lord. You see, they will be judged by the Law outside of Christ!
In Psalm 116:13 we are told, “I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD.” In other words, if you reject the cup of salvation the Lord has for you, then you will receive the bowls of judgment that will be poured out upon you. And notice the purity of these angels that are serving the Lord, they are clothed in white and their chest is girded with gold bands!
As Christians, the more time we spend with Jesus, the more time we obey His Word, the more of His love and character will flow from our lives. Paul put it this way in
II Corinthians 2:14-16 as he said, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?”
You see, whatever you come in contact with, whatever you are touching, whatever you are spending time with, that is what you will smell like! That is what will flow from your life! Are you spending time with the things of this world? If you are, if that is where your treasure is at, then that is what you will smell like and it won’t be pretty! Spend time with Jesus and allow His fragrance to emanate or radiate from your life so others may partake of it!
VERSES 7-8
These are not vials but bowls or shallow saucers that are being poured out. Here we see God’s anger reach its fullness and these angles are about to unleash these bowl judgments that are filled with the wrath of God. And remember that in this, His judgment is complete. As we come to the end of the seventh bowl judgment it is over! That is what is coming!
Now, as we look at the temple here in Heaven, we see it filled with smoke, which represents the presence of God, the glory of God and His power. In Exodus 40:34-38 we see this as we are told, “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.”
Also, as the temple was being dedicated by Solomon, we are told in I Kings 8:10-11, “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.” You see, it is the Shekinah glory or the presence of God that filled the temple!
Here in Revelation 15:8 we see a sad pronouncement, that man’s access to God has been closed and now it is time for God’s judgment to be poured out! I believe it is at this point that the destiny of man is settled – they will no longer have access to God! Those who have refused Jesus are lost. It is as the Lord said in Genesis 6:3, “ . . . ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever . . .’”
You see, at one time the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ as He took on our sins and paid in full the penalty for them. He died for sinners. But, there is coming a day when God’s wrath will be poured out on sinners because of their rejection of Jesus. They will pay for their own sins, its penalty, and they will be eternally separated from God. The wages of sin is death and that is what they will find apart from Christ! If you refuse Him you will see His judgment!
As I begin to rap this study up tonight, listen to what Poet, Friedrich Von Logau said, “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small.” Then, William Wadsworth Longfellow elaborated on this and said, “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small. Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness He grinds all.” All that reject Him that is!
And truly that is what we will see next time in our study, God’s judgment poured out, it is complete! We read in Revelation 16:1, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’” In The Amplified Bible it reads, “THEN I heard a mighty voice from the temple sanctuary saying to the seven angels, Go and empty out on the earth the seven bowls of God's wrath and indignation. [Ps 69:24; Isa 66:6.]” THAT IS WHAT IS COMING!