Previous verse Next verse1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
This is the third sign John writes about: Sign 1 (Israel) is in
Revelation
12:1 and Sign 2 (the red dragon) is in Revelation
12:3. This sign follows the harvesting of the earth. It shows the
preparations
for the pouring of the seven bowls of God's wrath upon the earth. Note
that while the action takes place on earth, the sign is given in
HEAVEN.
This indicates that God is directing this sign.
The expression, GREAT and MARVELOUS, is used in verse 3 and is associated with God's works.
These seven angels probably are specifically designated with these
PLAGUE judgments. They are attendants in the temple of heaven (verse
6). They understand how their pouring out the contents of each of
their
bowls will afflict the earth. In particular, one of them indicates a
judgment
against the great harlot (Revelation 17:1).
At another time, one of them shows John the BRIDE of the Lamb (after
the
bowl judgments are completed).
We should be aware that with the sin curse brought upon the earth (Genesis 3:17-24), the cleansing/purging of evil HAD to happen because God is HOLY and RIGHTEOUS. This evil would not go unpunished.
When I think about how powerful God must be to have created earth
(and ultimately me), what kind of power (verse 8) is
embedded in the WRATH OF GOD!
Believers and those who do not take the
mark
of the beast are NOT on the earth but rather are in heaven on the sea
of
glass (next verse) getting their harps ready to play
the 'song of Moses'. The unbelievers will experience the PLAGUES
contained in the seven bowls (chapter
16).
Many will die. Babylon gets its judgment at this time too (chapters
17-19).
Previous verse Next verse2. And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.
John continues on looking (Revelation 4:1).
He is aware of what is going on. Seeing, observing, being alert is not
optional for a believer. It is required:
The SEA of GLASS is symbolic of the victorious Christ upon whom
we can STAND. The fire denotes pending judgment (Hebrews
12:18-29).
Glass is formed by heating up silicates, and this SEA of GLASS apparently is getting hotter and hotter. Compare this SEA of GLASS with the one around the throne (Revelation 4:6). They probably are the same but this one reflects the 7 pending bowls of judgment. Hence mixed with FIRE.
Each of the seven churches had blessings for their victorious
overcomers
(Revelation 2:7, 2:11,
2:17,
2:26,
3:5,
3:12,
and
3:21). However, these VICTORIOUS ones
are not those from the seven churches. Rather they are the ones who
persevered
through the beast's deception (Revelation
13:10
and 14:12). They did NOT take the
NUMBER
(Revelation 13:18).
The beginning of the seventh trumpet finds humble worship (Revelation
11:16) face down and totally subservient. These saints are STANDING
tall as witnesses of God's final judgments. It is for them, in
particular,
that these judgments are done. They observe with unblinking awe that
they
made the right choice and that God is this powerful. They probably knew
it all along but didn't realize it until this moment.
Look how Daniel sees this moment (Daniel 12:1-3-4).
The HARP appears to be "the God instrument" (Psalm
33:1-2-3 and Revelation 5:8). The
devil
knows this and apparently tries to reproduce the same sound/music in
Babylon
(Revelation 18:22). However, I have a
feeling
the beast/devil has no idea how to play the HARPs like these STANDING
here
do!
Previous verse Next verse3. And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying,
"Great and marvelous are Thy works,And they SANG
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Thy ways,
Thou King of the nations.
This is the "Praise and Worship" time before the temple is opened (verse 5) for a very different "passing out the bowls" service.
1) the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and
It does not matter which of the two Old Testament songs of Moses (Exodus 15 or Deuteronomy 32) this song is patterned after. The theme is of victory after very difficult times.
This part of the song is specifically Jewish in context and meaning (see the "Thy Works" comments below).
2) the song of the LAMB, saying,
This really is only one song, a merged version of the song of Moses and of the song of the Lamb. And I suspect this is only a snippet of the whole song. The result of this song is given in Daniel 7:13-14 where we see the LAMB's victory and the resulting dominion accrued to Him.
"Thy Works" can be both physical and spiritual. That is, this part more closely aligns with the Song of Moses. Moses saw GREAT and MARVELOUS WORKS:
The singers here went through the first half of the Tribulation (similar to crossing the Red Sea) without taking the mark of the beast. They counted on the TRUTH and the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the King of the nations. And they were RIGHT!
This verse is the first part of the song. The second part follows in
the next verse. Check out the parallel song in Jeremiah
10:6-7-10.
Previous verse Next verse4. "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name?
This is a continuation of verse 3, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
This is the most likely response of a true believer who realizes
the awesomeness of God and how to FEAR this almighty God. The result is
a spontaneous GLORIFYING His Name!
In the Old Testament, Jeremiah came to the same conclusion (Jeremiah 10:6-10). So this theme is an eternal theme, and we, present day believers, would do very well to understand this question.
This question parallels the one posed in Revelation 13:4 about the beast. But remember who is singing this time (verse 2).
The main word to emphasis here is "ALONE". This HOLINESS is unique
to God and the Lamb. The four living creatures understood this (Revelation
4:8). At some time, everyone will understand this (Philippians
2:9-11).
According to Watchman Nee, HOLY is a description of God's nature.
The individualism implied above is now expanded to 'nations'. That
nations, all of them, will come and WORSHIP before the Lamb has been
prophesied
from old (Psalm
66:1-4, Psalm
72:8-11, Psalm
86:8-10, Isaiah
66:22-24, and Zechariah
14:16-21).
Looking into the future, even in the new earth and new heaven, this principle exists (Revelation 21:22-24-27).
The RIGHTEOUS ACTS are God's works according to Watchman Nee. This
is HOLINESS (nature) revealed in works.
It is implied that the RIGHTEOUS ACTS have been revealed to the singers, both individually and nationally. These RIGHTEOUS ACTS expose the evil of the last days. That evil penetrates governments should not be a surprise (see comments in Revelation 12:3).
Today, we often hear, "That isn't FAIR!" But by this time, the
coming judgments embodying the FULL/COMPLETE WRATH of God (verse
7) will be absolutely FAIR because of God's HOLINESS and RIGHTEOUS
ACTS!
Previous verse Next verse5. After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened,
John is doing what he was told to do (Revelation
1:19).
This is the third 'I looked' in the last two chapters. Each time
John
sees something different.
1) The Lamb on Mount Zion (Revelation
14:1)
2) The Harvesting of the Earth
(Revelation 14:14)
3) The TEMPLE of the TABERNACLE
OF TESTIMONY is opened for the seven bowl ceremony.
This is symbolically Jesus Christ as the fulfiller of the LAW
(TESTIMONY
- Exodus
25:16-22). We see the innermost part of the tabernacle containing
the
ark being made open for this vision. The ark was both the mercy seat
and
the container of "the LAW". In this verse, there is no mention of the
mercy
seat (Hebrews
10:1-10). The time for mercy is past; now it is time for "the LAW"
through judgment to act.
On earth, the devil tries and succeeds in taking ownership of this part of the temple (Matthew 24:15-28 and Daniel 11:29-35). But this TEMPLE of the TABERNACLE OF TESTIMONY is in heaven where God and the Lamb are in charge.
For continuity, this verse really gets us back into the main thread
of Revelation. That is, it is a continuation of the temple opening in Revelation
11:19. Recall that the seven bowls (verse 7) are
contained within the seventh trumpet (Revelation
11:15-19).
Previous verse Next verse6. and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles.
Seven denotes completion; with the seven bowls these seven angels
are going to carry, we will see the completion of God's wrath (verse
1).
This is the third set of seven angels. The first set were the angels to the seven churches (Revelation 2). The second set were the trumpet blowers (Revelation 8:6). This set has a different job to do as we will see.
While there is not a one to one correspondence to the plagues God
sent via Moses upon Egypt, this indicates that PLAGUES are real and
probably
fall into categories:
This is really the Holy of Holies, Naos in Greek, part of
the temple. Thus these are angelic priest types. Compare to the earthly
high priests (Exodus
28:28-30).
Linen denotes righteousness. It is this righteousness about which
the song was sung (verse 3) and will be the garment
of
the bride, the believers, at the wedding
supper
(Revelation 19:8).
Compare how Daniel saw this Son of Man in his vision (Daniel 10:5-7).
Christ, as High Priest in heaven (Hebrews
5:1-10) is dressed this way (Revelation
1:13).
The girdle indicates service and a golden girdle denotes Godly
service.
Also the girdle (or sash) had some protection value. Note what it is
that
these 7 angels will be assigned to do. They will be protected by
God Himself.
Previous verse Next verse7. 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.
These are the four living creatures who are introduced in Revelation
4:6,7 and are active in the pronouncement of the seal judgments (Revelation
6:1-8).
Creation has been waiting for the judgments starting by this mixing of the WRATH of GOD with the plagues (Romans 8:19-21).
GOLD denotes diety which ties it directly to the WRATH of GOD. The bowls also were bronze utensils used in temple worship of this God (Exodus 27:1-3-8 and Amos 6:1-6-7).
Contrast these bowls with the ones in Revelation 5:8.
We have no concept of the full WRATH OF GOD because we know Him
as a God of LOVE. This WRATH may be 7 different kinds of WRATH or, more
likely, the FULL WRATH OF GOD is mixed in with each of the plagues the
seven angels are carrying (previous verse).
"forever and ever" is a given for God. This implies that the WRATH
of
GOD existed before the creation of this earth. What is hard for us
humans
to grasp is how the TOTAL LOVE and FULL WRATH of GOD has coexisted
within
God "forever and ever". It is one of the deep mysteries of GOD.
Previous verse Next verse8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
And the temple was filled with smokeThe judgments soon to be emptied upon the earth are a direct result of God's holiness. Smoke is related to this holiness and righteous anger (Isaiah 6:1-4-7; Habakkuk 2:18-20; Lamentations 3:40-54; and Psalm 74:1-11). We do not see the fire itself (maybe too horrible to witness even in a vision). But the results (smoke) of the judgments are visible.
and no one was able to enter the TEMPLE until the seven PLAGUES
of the seven ANGELS were FINISHED.