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“Revelation: God's Vision of Victory” (Triumph Over Evil - Part I) (Revelation 15:5-8) |
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I. Introduction.
A. Revelation 15 is, in many ways, comparable to
Revelation 4. Once again, we see God’s heavenly “throne
room,” with the four living creatures, and the twenty-four
elders, singing praises of, and to, Almighty God (READ
Revelation 15:1-4).1. The “. . . sea of glass mingled with fire” (v. 2)
reminds us of the “. . . sea of glass, like crystal”
that is before God’s throne, in Revelation 4:6.
But, now, the additional element of “fire” appears.
Since we are now to have scenes of God’s final
judgment upon evil, the “sea” contains the natural,
purifying element of fire.2. This sea, however, is of no threat to those who have
conquered the “beast.”3. Added to the picture are the seven angels with the
“. . . last plagues.” These avenging angels were to
pour out the “seven bowls” of the “wrath of God on
the earth” (16:1).4. Now God unleashes His wrath, and His judgment,
on the beasts, (Chapter 13), whom we’ve seen as
symbolic of the civil, imperial, power of Rome,
“Babylon,” and of the cult of emperor worship, and
on those who inhabit the earth (14:6), those who
worship the beast, and who persecute God’s people.
With this, the “wrath of God is complete.” (15:1).B. In 15:5-8, the angels come from “. . . the temple [sanctuary,
or inner shrine] of the tabernacle of the testimony . . .”
(v. 5). This is a vision that relates back, not to the great
structures that stood in Jerusalem, but to the tents that were
a part of the wilderness years and the early years in the land
of Canaan.1. The very inner sanctuary of the tabernacle was the
place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and,
in that ark was the law of God.2. These angels are coming to demonstrate the
righteousness of God; to show that no one, no
nation, can, with impunity, defy the law of God.3. Their purpose is judgment, but, also, to vindicate
the Divine Law in its righteousness.4. The glory of God is symbolized by the “smoke”
that “filled” the temple – God’s dwelling place.
An interesting parallel to this is found in
Exodus 40:34-35 (READ). And, in Isaiah’s
version of the throne of God (Isaiah 6:4), “. . . the
posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him
who cried out, and the house was filled with
smoke.” (see, also, I Kings 8:10-11).a. The plans, and purposes, of God are often
obscure to people, for no one can know the
mind of God.b. The holiness, and glory, of God are such that
no one, of himself and by his own merit, can
ever approach God.5. It is after these final, consummating, judgments that
the “temple” is open to entrance. There will be no
stopping this ultimate judgment. The holiness,
righteousness, and sovereignty of God demands it.
The time for repentance has passed.II. The Seven Bowls of Wrath (16:1-21).
A. People are being judged in this passage, but the whole of
creation, the physical creation, is involved. The sin of
humanity has touched – and polluted – the whole world.B. To make our understanding of these judgments a little
clearer, we must see them as parallel to other such actions
on the part of God. The last plagues have a definite,
identifiable connection with two other listings of plagues,
in Exodus and in Revelation.1. First, there are the ten plagues brought upon Egypt,
when Moses came to Pharaoh to ask for the release
of the Israelites.a. The water made into blood
(Exodus 7:20-25)
b. The frogs (8:5-14)c. The lice (8:16-18)
d. The flies (8:20-24)
e. The murrain on the cattle (9:3-6)
f. The boils and blains (9:8-11)
g. The thunder and the hail (9:22-26)
h. The locusts (10:12-19)
i. The darkness (10:21-23)
j. The slaying of the first-born
(12:29, 30)2. Second, we have the terrors which followed the
soundings of each of the seven trumpets
(Revelation 8:7-9: 21; 11:15-19).a. The coming of hail, fire and blood, through
which a third part of the trees and all the
green grass are withered (Revelation 8:7).b. The flaming mountain cast into the sea,
whereby one third of the sea becomes blood
(8:8).c. The fall of the star Wormwood into the
waters, whereby the waters become bitter
and poisonous (8:10, 11).d. The smiting of one third of the sun and the
moon and the stars, whereby all is darkened
(8:12).
e. The coming of the star who unlocks the pit
of the abyss, from which there comes the
smoke, out of which there come the demonic
and terrible locusts (9:1-12).f. The loosing of the four angels bound in the
Euphrates, and the coming of the demonic
cavalry from the east (9:13-21).g. The announcement of the final victory of
God, and of the rebellious anger of the
nations (11:15).3. Now, we have these terrors of final judgment
(Revelation 16:1-21).a. The coming of the ulcerous sores upon men
(Revelation 16:2).b. The sea becomes like blood of a dead man
(16:3).c. The rivers and fountains become blood
(16:4).d. The sun becomes scorchingly and
burningly hot (16:8).e. The darkness over the kingdom of the
beast, and the agony of it (16:10).f. The drying up of the Euphrates to open a
way for the hordes of the kings of the east
(16:12).g. The pollution of the air and the
accompanying terrors in nature, the thunder,
the earthquake, the lightening and the hail
(16:17-19).C. Let us focus our attention upon the “sixth bowl”, for here
we encounter some of the most-discussed points in
“Revelation”, especially the great “battle” of Armageddon
(6:16) (READ 16:12-16).1. The first four bowls of wrath are certainly
reminiscent of the Egyptian plagues. They involve
physical creation and are manifested in physical
terms.2. The following three bowls are more spiritual in
nature. They are focused more directly upon the
“throne of the beast and his kingdom” (16:10). In
other words, they are aimed directly at the evil
power of Rome, the polluter of peoples’ souls.a. The fifth bowl turns that kingdom to
darkness and people are torn by anguish.
(v. 10). The Roman Empire – although
powerful – was never free from internal
intrigue, the suspicions of people turned
against others, and the practice of terrorism
against people because of these things.b. In Chapter 16, verses 9, 11, and 21, the
people upon whom the horrors of judgment
fall curse God, “blaspheme” Him, but do not
repent. They are unmoved by either the
goodness or the severity of God. To not
know God is one thing, but, to know of Him
and His holiness, righteousness, and
sovereignty, and deliberately reject Him is
another.If we insist on doing as we please, insist on
having things our own way, if we resist the
will of God – we face final judgment, and
justice.D. In 16:12, the “. . . great river Euphrates . . .” dries up – as a
prelude to the coming of the “. . . kings of the east.”1. Again, there is a parallel with an actual historical
event. The Greek historian, Herodotus, says that,
when Cyrus, the Persian king, attacked and
captured Babylon, he succeeded in his conquest of
the city by drying up the Euphrates River. If flowed
right through the center of that ancient city, whose
defenses were strong. Leaving one part of his army
at the city, Cyrus took a second part upriver and, by
a great feat of engineering, temporarily deflected
the river, causing its depth to decrease going into
the city until, finally, it became a dry bed and
provided a way into the city of Babylon.2. There is another historical allusion here, as well.
The greatest enemies of the Romans, the people
they had never conquered, were the Parthians.
They lived east of the Euphrates River. Their
cavalry was a dreaded force. What a vision of
terror for Rome was the Parthian cavalry crossing
the Euphrates River and invading Roman
territory.E. All leads up to the “. . . battle of the great day of God
Almighty” (verse 14).1. Verse 13 gives us the picture of “three unclean
spirits like frogs” which come out of the mouths
of the dragon (Satan – 12:3; 9), the beast (the
Roman empire and emperor worship – 13), and
the “. . . false prophet.” But, who, or what, is
that?2. This is the first time such a figure appears in
“Revelation” (and, it is mentioned again in 19:20
and 20:10). But, the idea of a false prophet was
not new to 1st century Christians. They’d been
warned to “Beware of false prophets, who come
to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves,” (Matthew 7:15). And, they’d
been told that such deceivers “. . . will rise and
show signs and wonders . . .” (Mark 13:22).a. To determine the “identity” of the false
prophet, go back to 13:11-14 (READ).
We’ve already determined that the second
beast – the beast of the earth – represents
the organization and administration of the
cult of emperor worship.b. The “false prophet” represents any force,
individual or collective, that seeks to lead
people to worship falsely, false gods, and
to abandon the worship of the One True and
Living God.c. It is a generic reference, not to a single
person, but to a type of person, one who
attempts to get people to compromise their faith and to seduce them to worship
something, or someone, other than God.F. What, now, of “Armageddon?” (verse 16).
1. So much misleading information has been
disseminated concerning this word and what it
represents. But, as always, we must set the symbols
in the context of what is being discussed.2. The overall context of the message of “Revelation”
is about “. . . things which must shortly take place,”
(1:1), and for which “. . . the time is near.” (1:3).
These things would effect the church in Asia in the
1st century. They related to the persecution of the
church by Jewish and pagan (Roman) sources.3. In the time of “Revelation”, Christians were
already dying for their faith. And, equally true,
the persecutors had already been judged by God.4. The battle of “Armageddon” is the struggle
between God and Satan being played out in the
1st century, in Asia, between the faithful saints and
the Roman authorities. It has no relevance to the
end of the physical world outside of the symbolic
language used to describe it.5. But why “Armageddon?” What of the name
itself? The most reasonable conclusion is that the
term “Armageddon” comes from the Hebrew
“HAR”, meaning hill or mountain, and Megiddo,
an ancient fortress city at the western end of the
plain of Esdraelon and Jezeel.a. This fortress has an ancient history dating
back well before the 1st century.b. In the time of King Solomon, this mountain
fortress became a key stronghold to protect
Israel from attacks from the north and east.
Here were fought great battles between the
Israelites and their enemies, and here great
victories were won.c. So, John uses the term “HAR-MEGIDDO”
as a symbol of great struggle, in this case, of
the struggle between God and Satan,
represented by the Roman Empire, which
would have been very relevant to 1st century
Christians.d. If you wanted a more modern parallel, think
of the common phrase “He met his
Waterloo.” Waterloo, in Belgium, is where
Napoleon Bonaparte was finally defeated, in
June, 1815. His end came as a result of a
great battle fought there against a coalition
of forces arrayed against him. His defeat
resulted in his exile to the South Atlantic
island of St. Helena. To meet one’s
“Waterloo” is to be checked or defeated.
“Armageddon” represents the ultimate
defeat of evil by the righteousness of God.e. To see “Armageddon” as an end-of-the-
world battle is to lift it out of its proper
context in Revelation 16, and to literalize
a figurative reference.F. The seventh bowl marks another emphasis on finality –
“It is done!” (verse 17). God’s judgment on the beast –
the new Babylon – is accomplished. It connects back to
the start of this section (15:1), where it says that, with
these last plagues “. . . the wrath of God is complete.”III. Conclusion.
A. It is necessary, in looking at the vision of “Revelation”
to remember that the scenes are not sequential. What
follows something else does not, necessarily, follow it
chronologically. There is much repetition of events,
to dramatize them and to give them greater impact. Some
commentators call this “recapitulation.”B. As we move on into Chapter 17 and those that follow it,
we find scenes of the same judgments of God against
the “New Babylon” – Rome. But, our overall theme
remains valid – God wins!C. In Chapters 17-20, the character of Babylon is described,
the doom of Babylon is announced, the marriage feast
(supper) of the Lamb is pictured, the defeat of the beast
and false prophet is guaranteed, the binding of Satan is
assured, the reign of the martyrs is confirmed, and final
judgment is assured and introduced.D. All of these mark the triumph of God over evil.