In Revelation 15-16 we see
the final outpouring of God’s wrath before Christ’s return. Chapter 15 begins the preparation for the
last seven judgments of His wrath. His
wrath begins in chapter 6; this chapter is an introduction to these last and
final plagues on mankind. This covers the
last 3½ years of the Tribulation that is described in chapter 16.
Revelation
15:1-4 – Heavenly Worship
Seven angels prepare to give out
the last seven Tribulation judgments.
These are called bowls that are full of God’s wrath. No one can enter the temple until the seven
plagues are finished. (Rev. 15:8)
John saw seven angels with seven
last plagues. “…
the seven last plagues – last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.”
– Rev. 15:1b Then he saw something like a sea of glass
mixed with fire. Standing beside the sea
where those who didn’t worship the image, but who had been faithful to God. They are Tribulation Martyrs who were
beheaded because they refused to submit to the Antichrist. God
had given the angels harps; they sang the song of Moses and the song of the
Lamb. “Great and
marvelous are you deeds, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who 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.” – Rev. 15:3-4.
They are celebrating God’s
destruction of His enemies and the redemption of His people. They praise Him for His excellent and perfect
ways. He is just and sovereign. We are not to fear the world. We are to fear God. Fear is to show reverence to God. “All nations will
come and worship before you” refers to the time when Jesus returns and sits
on the throne and rules the world.
Revelation
15:5-8 – Preparing for Judgment
After this John saw the temple in
heaven. The tabernacle of the Testimony was
opened. Out of the temple came seven
angels with seven plagues dressed in clean linen and golden sashes. One of the four living creatures gave each of
the angels a golden bowl filled with God’s wrath. The temple was filled with smoke from the
glory of God and His power. No one could
enter the temple until the seven plagues were completed. (Rev. 15:5-8) This shows
that there is serious and severe judgment in progress.
Some people, even some Christians
think God is only a God of love, but these angels are operating under God’s
orders. They are coming out of the
temple and clothed in white indicating they are not demon angels, but God’s
angels. Seven shows the completeness of
it all. God will put an end to sin once
and for all. When these seven plagues
are over, Christ will return.
Revelation
16:1-14 – Six Bowls of God’s Judgment
John heard a loud voice from the
temple, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on
the earth.” – Rev. 16:1 This is the voice of God, because He alone
has the right to initiate judgment. He
alone is holy, righteous, and just. These
bowls contain the anger of God.
1st angel – his
bowl is poured out on the land and ugly and painful sores broke out on the
people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. (Rev. 16:2) This shows God’s grace by not bringing
judgment on believers. He will protect
them just as He did the Israelites during the plagues of Egypt. In Exodus 9:8-11 God sent soot over
Egypt and festering boils broke out on the people and animals.
2nd angel – his
bowl was poured on the sea and it turned to blood and everything in the sea
died. (Rev. 16:3) Now everything in the sea is dead. Can you image the stench and potential for
disease? In Exodus 7:14-25 God
turned the waters into blood.
3rd angel – his
bowl is poured out on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood. (Rev. 16:4) This may or may not be
literal blood, but if Christ can turn water to wine, He can turn water to
blood. The important thing is the water
will not be fit to drink and will breed disease. The angel tells us that justice is served and
that He is just in these judgments because He is the Holy One.
4th angel – his
bowl is poured out on the sun which scorched people with fire. The people refused to repent. (Rev. 16:8-9) Even with lack of water and this great heat
people did not fall to their knees and repent.
Have you ever had a bad sunburn? Well,
I am sure it was nothing like this. They
probably were covered with painful sores and blisters. In Deuteronomy 28:22
the people were struck with diseases, fever, inflammation, scorching heat and
drought, blight and mildew.
5th angel – his
bowl is poured out on the throne of the beast and his kingdom was plunged into
darkness. Men cursed God because of
their pains and sores, but still refused to repent. (Rev. 16:10-11) This will be
world-wide. God sent darkness during the
plagues of Egypt in Exodus 10:21-23.
This is an illustration of their spiritual darkness, too. I am sure this brought depression, suicides
and all sorts of evil attacks on the mind.
Jesus predicted this, “But in those days,
following that distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give
its light.” – Mark 13:24 Where is their Antichrist now?
6th angel – his
bowl is poured out on the great river Euphrates and its water dried up. Then he saw three evil spirits that looked
like frogs come out of mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false
prophet. These spirits of demons perform
miraculous signs and go out to the kings of the world to gather them for a
great battle against God called Armageddon. (Rev. 16:12-16) These
spirits will have power to do miracles just like the Egyptian magicians copied
Moses’ miracles, but God has limited their power. This river was a boundary between the east
and the west. The river was dried up so the
kings of the east could cross for the “battle on the great day of God Almighty”,
Armageddon. They would join forces with
armies all over the world to battle the King of Kings. (We know who wins.) In Exodus 8:1-15 God sent the plague
of frogs over the land.
What do these judgments say about
God’s power? These judgments prove that
God is all powerful and can do anything He wants over His creation. The beast’s
followers are like Pharaoh; they harden their hearts and blasphemed God.
Revelation
16:15-21 – Seventh Bowl of God’s Judgment
Jesus Himself speaks in Rev. 16:15, “Blessed
is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be
shamefully exposed.” We as
believers must be alert as we wait for Him to return. Remain clothed means to remain true to
Jesus. We have been clothed with His righteousness
and we are to continue to live a transformed life. We are to remain clothes with His
character. We need to be ready by
repenting of sin and believe in Jesus for salvation.
7th angel – his
bowl is poured out into the air which is the final judgment. A voice came out of the temple from the
throne said, “It is done!” This voice is probably God Himself. Then lightning, thunder and earthquake
occurred. No earthquake like it has ever
occurred. The city split into 3 parts
and the cities of the nations collapsed.
Islands and mountains disappeared.
Huge hailstone fell upon men.
They cursed God. (Rev. 16:17-21) God’s final judgment will end with a great
earthquake.
These judgments are like the ten
plagues in Egypt when God got rid of their false gods. In this final judgment He will get rid of all
untruths, all sin and all that is against Him.
These judgments are clearly supernatural and everyone will know they are
from God. Instead of falling down and
repenting, they curse God. They refuse
to change their ways. Their hearts are
hard and stubborn. They should have
turned from their sin and praised God. With
all these plagues, deaths and sufferings the people still did not repent. Can you image? What were they thinking? Talk about being stubborn. God gave them every chance to repent. He gives people today every chance to repent,
but some are too stubborn and do not repent.
We are to “stay awake”. Matthew 24:43-44 and Mark 13:32-37
tell us to keep watch, be ready, be on guard, and be alert, because we don’t
know when Jesus will return. It will be
when we do not expect Him. 2 Peter
3:10 tells us the day of the Lord will come like a thief; no one knows when
He is coming.
To “remain clothed” means to stay
godly and holy with kindness, humility, and patience. Keep your godly virtues. Behave decently. Continue to be like Christ.
God’s love and His wrath are hard
to understand. God loves all people, but
He cannot tolerate sin. God deals with
sin through judgment. His wrath is His
response to sin. His judgment is a part
of His love. There can be no true love
without judgment for sin. His judgment
is an act of love with the purpose of restoring holiness and moral order in a
fallen world.
Principle: God’s final judgment will be
devastating, purposeful, and complete.
We all deserve these judgments,
but Jesus stood in our place. Jesus will
return! Will you be ready? I hope this study will open your eyes before
it’s too late. God is patiently waiting
for you to repent and surrender to Him.
– I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
Next week we will continue our study of Revelation,
which covers the specifics of when Babylon is destroyed.
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