Thursday, December 17 –
We continue our reading thru
the New Testament seeing that we are getting closer to our goal every day. Today’s reading is from Revelation
15:1-8. Please come back after you’ve
read the Scripture.
This is the beginning of the end as God’s wrath reaches its crescendo in the
seven bowls with seven plagues. They are
similar to the seven trumpets, but the bowls are more severe in their judgments
than the trumpets were. John is
witnessing God’s patience in warning, calling people to repentance and faith in
the lamb come to an end. The earth waits
and longs for justice against evil to be done, and this is how it begins. The opening line marks this new vision of the
end –
“Then I saw another sign in
heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last,
for with them the wrath of God is finished” (15:1).
The bowls are filled with
“plagues” which are eerily similar to the plagues of Egypt that Moses announced
to Pharaoh in Exodus. The word “plague”
comes from a Greek word (plēgē) that
means a “blow” or a “wound”. The blows,
or wounds are not time consuming, but quick, decisive, inflicting a severity of
punishment.
Before John witnesses the bowls
he sees the throne room again (the sea of glass from 4:6), and the
“overcomers who conquered”, not by sword or might, but by their faith – “And
they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” Revelation
12:11. They had endured and persevered, even unto death, and as they
anticipate the end of evil, they sing a song of praise to God and to the lamb.
“And I saw what appeared to be
a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and
its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with
harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant
of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O
Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been
revealed” (15:2-4).
Judgment is soon to fall, but
they are focused on God’s grace and on Jesus’ redemption in his sacrifice on
the cross. They did not worship the
beast, or fall under the seductive temptations of the power and riches that
came with “selling out”. Instead, they
conquered by the blood of the lamb, and the testimony from God’s word because
they loved that more than life itself.
God is to be honored and praised, for our redemption and deliverance are
due to his work (deeds), the Lord God Almighty, the King of all nations,
the Holy God, who all nations will come to worship. The song of Moses was sung at the Red
Sea after Israel crossed on dry ground while the waters drowned the Egyptian
army that sought to follow them to destroy them. That is the Lord God Almighty! The song of the Lamb is sung at a “sea
of glass”- at the throne of the Lord God Almighty. Heaven is full of praise, joy, and
thanksgiving, but on earth, there is something else about to happen –
“After this I looked, and the
sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the
sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright
linen, with golden sashes around their chests. And one of the four living
creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God
who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from
the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until
the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished” (15:5-8).
While the Jerusalem temple had
been destroyed almost thirty years before, John sees a heavenly vision of the
temple, seven angels receive from one of the four living creatures, golden
bowls filled with God’s wrath. The
temple is filled with smoke – a remembrance that at the altar the priest burnt
the incense as a sign that the prayers of God’s people were heard. It had been in chapter 5, that the elders had
bowed down before the lamb with bowls of the prayers of the martyrs – “And
between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a
Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And
he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the
throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and
the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and
golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation
5:6-8).
It is a somber, holy moment as
these angels prepare to exercise the final judgment upon the earth. God, the Lord God Almighty, is a Holy
God. When we are reminded that “the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10), and also
“it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews
10:31). While fear is an appropriate
response to God’s holy character, as Christians, we do not fear God’s judgment
because he has already exercised that judgment against our sin in Christ’s
death who was our substitute. ”God
made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
My fear of God is reverence and awe that the Lord God Almighty would
send the lamb of God to die for my sin, that I might receive his
righteousness. Given the judgment of God
upon sin, why would anyone foolishly refuse Christ and receive the judgment of
their sin on their own?
I do not fear the Lord God
Almighty who sent His angel to Shepherds in Bethlehem to announce the good news
– “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news
of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). That’s the Gospel – the Savior who is Christ
the Lord, the Lamb of God we worship.
Peace
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