-The Scriptures-
Revelation 15:1-16:1
1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven
last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the
victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his
name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou
King of saints.
4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all
nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in
heaven was opened:
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure
and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the
wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no
man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were
fulfilled.
Revelation 16:
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your
ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. |
-The Scriptures with comments-
Revelation 15:1-16:1
1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven
last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
And I saw another sign in heaven... The "signs"
of prophecy offer a fascinating study. What usually comes to mind when the believer
thinks of signs is "Gideons fleece" (Judges 6:37-40) or the end-time signs of
prophecy given to the Church.
(Click here to go to CLOCK OF THE AGES, booklet five--End Time Signs.
Use the "back" button on your browser to return to
this page.) However, this particular sign will not be on earth, but
in heaven.
...great... This sign is "great" in that if will
finalize the "great work" of God: i.e, His making a creature in His own image to
share His existence and glory for the rest of eternity — and not as mere
"things" that He has made but as beings of choice that can communicate with Him
and relate with Him on His level.
...and marvellous... This sign is "marvellous" in
that it finalizes the "short work" of grace that God has done and is doing on
the earth — a work that can be seen in the "finished work" of Calvary and
the marvellous grace of God that has brought that "finished work" to each
generation of mankind.
John 19:28-30
After this [after those things already done on the cross] ,
Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be
fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put
[it] upon hyssop, and put [it] to his mouth.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is
finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Rom 9:28.
For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will
the Lord make upon the earth
...seven angels having the seven last plagues... Numerology
comes to play here, seven = final or complete. The "seven angels" indicate
that this will be the last work of the angels on the earth. And the "seven last
plagues" imply that this will be the final time for the plagues that man has brought
upon himself.
...for in them is filled up the wrath of God. When
viewed in its context, this is the final week of Daniel's 70th Week and the final Day of
the Lord / God — the time when God's wrath will be poured out on those who love and
practice evil.
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had
gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the
number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire... This
sea of glass differs from the one in Revelation 4:6 in that it emphasizes those
among the redeemed who suffered or were martyred for their faith.
...and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his
image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name... This
language identifies the martyrs of Daniel's 70th Week.
...stand on the sea of glass... This probably means
that the martyrs of Daniel's 70th Week will have a special place in heaven.
...having the harps of God. Harps have to do with
worship, and worship is the language of love between God and man. These standing on
the sea of glass are assured a harp because on the earth, they paid the ultimate price of
love. Also, in the Old Testament, harps were often played before prophecy came
forth.
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3 And they sing the song of Moses the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord
God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the
Lamb... Those who are martyred during Daniel's 70th Week will include
both those of Jewish descent (those who will sing the song of Moses) and Gentiles who will
put their faith in Christ Jesus (those who will sing the song of the Lamb).
...saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and
true are thy ways, thou King of saints. These who have died for
Christ will be saying that He is not only worth living for, but He is also worth dying
for. And here we see that He is worthy because of His great and marvellous works,
because He IS the Lord God Almighty, because He is just and true, and
because He is King of those that He has made to be saints.
4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art
holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made
manifest.
The wording from verse four to the end of this parenthesis tie both halves of Daniel's
70th Week together by alluding to things that will happen in both of them. Verse 4 has to
do with the first 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week when the Lord shall visibly return from heaven
with ten thousands of His glorified saints in glory and power to make war with those who
follow the beast. Such a display will cause people to fear and be awe-stricken at
what they see. And we know this time to be pre-Kingdom Age by the statement:
"for all nations shall come and worship before thee."
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of
the testimony in heaven was opened:
And after that I looked.... From this point on, the
language points us to the end of the Kingdom age when all things will be finalized.
...and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven
was opened: This wording identifies Christ Jesus. He is the
"temple" of God of the New Testament — each believer being a temple of the
Holy Ghost and being "one" with Him. But He is also the fulfillment of the
tabernacle of the Old Testament. And of course, both the tabernacle and the temple
were raised up to be a witness / testimony of God's love for man.
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues,
clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
And the seven angels came out of the temple... This refers
back to the same angels as in verse one; only this verse has them coming out of the
temple: i.e, being sent forth by Christ.
...having the seven plagues... These plagues can only come
from the temple / Christ because He alone is worthy and capable to make such judgments.
...clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with
golden girdles. These expressions indicate that the angels, too, were
tried; and we know that two-thirds of them rejected the devil's lies and chose
righteousness. It's interesting that they have their breasts girded with
"golden girdles," for gold is indicitive of being tried as though by fire.
If this is true, then we know that the angels can look upon the human race, not
just with curiosity, but with compassion.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials
full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
The fact that no one of the four beasts is singled out leaves the impression that the
one could be speaking for all four of them. We've already discussed how that the
four beasts in heaven represent life on our planet: i.e., the wild animals, the domestic
animals, man, and the fowls. This brings to mind Romans 8:19-22 where we are told
that all of creation awaits the deliverance of the Church, for they will also be delivered
from the curse at that time. Looks like at the end time, they, too, will have a say
in what's coming down.
For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation]
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected [the same] in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his
power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven
angels were fulfilled.
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God...
The "smoke" of prophecy has to do with the judgment of God which is closely
connected to the law. The first mentioning of this "smoke" had to do with
the judgment / destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah where it is written that "the
smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace" (Gen. 19:28).
The second mentioning of this "smoke" had to do with the giving of the law at
Mt. Sinai.
Ex. 19:18
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and
the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
In the book of Revelations we see one more ingredient added to this "smoke of
judgment": i.e., the prayer of the saints. Not only will God hold
those who reject Christ responsible for breaking the law but He will also hold them
responsible for how they have treated those who were not ashamed to stand for His name.
Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with
the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
...and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of
the seven angels were fulfilled. Since Christ Jesus is the temple of
God in heaven, this could be one way of saying that for the duration of the remainder of
the two halves of Daniel's 70th Week, the "door" to the Ark — the Ark being
a type of Christ — will be closed. This interpretation seems to apply since in
the 13th set, we were told that the LORD had already reaped those of this time who feared
Him and who had rejected the mark of the beast. We know that at the end of
the first 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week, the "door" to salvation will again be
opened for those of the Kingdom Age. What happens at the end of the Kingdom Age may
well be "sealed" until that time.
Revelation 16:
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your
ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Everything is set in heaven, so now the final judgments/ destructions will begin on the
earth.
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