Monday, December 13, 2021

12-12-21 Seraphs and Singers by the Sea

 

At a distance, the whole concept of God is theoretical, and tame.  When we get closer it makes our knees knock, and ties our tongues.  That's not all bad when you consider the nature of God and His power. 

Our text begins the close of the Great Tribulation period.  There have been two previous groupings of seven angels of judgment (seals & trumpets).  Now the final (thank goodness) grouping of seven angels begins with seven bowls of wrath.

Just before the beginning of this judgment time, John describes for us a scene of worship outside the temple in heaven.  He is awed by the sight of true worship.  As one writer put it, John must give us one more glimpse of heaven.[1]

We’ll take that last glimpse before traveling with the angels of doom and gloom to the earth.  We are treated to a pageantry of true worship proceeding from the holy of holies in heaven's temple.

Again, we investigate the explanation of Scripture with an eye on application.

Explanation

The Seraphs

Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion. Revelation 15.1

The word angel means messenger.  These messengers of God are bringing a harsh message, the seven last plagues of God's wrath.  We cannot lose ourselves here in fascination with angels, and speculation on their powers, and what they look like.  The messenger must never stand in the way of the message.  It's still all about Jesus! 

The Sea

I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. Revelation 15.2a

This shining sea that surrounds the throne of God is not new. 

And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal…Revelation 4:6a

However, now there is fire added.  This signifies the judgment that emanates from the throne.  Fire is well represented as God's wrath. 

·       In Egypt, the plague was hail, mingled with fire

·       New Testament chaff is separated from the wheat, then burned with fire. 

·       God, Himself, is a consuming fire   

For our God is a devouring fire. Hebrews 12.29.

The sea of glass is ablaze with the righteous judgment of the fire of holy God.

The Singers by the Sea

I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire.  And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name.  They were all holding harps that God had given them.  Revelation 15.2

The singers are the triumphant ones – martyrs.  Triumphant martyrs sounds like an oxymoron!  What's triumphant about having your head lopped off?  Or being boiled in oil?  What is victorious about the persecution of the early church where believers were ushered into the Coliseum and ferocious lions were unleashed to rip them apart, while the nobles and common folk watched just for sport?  In our culture there is nothing victorious about such an ignominious death. 

However, God does accounting differently than modern man. 

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.    Matthew 16:25

These victorious martyrs overcomers of the Beast are those who remained faithful to Christ during the Great Tribulation.  It cost them their lives.  In the Lord's economy there is great honor and privilege accorded those who are faithful while facing great trials and persecution.

The Song

And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty.  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.  Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.” Revelation 15.3-4

THE SONG REHEARSES GOD'S WORKS

This song of the singers reflects Exodus 15, the song of Moses, sung by Israelites, standing at the shore of the Red Sea.  Just moments before this song was sung, they were being chased through a pathway in the water God had opened for their escape.  It seemed as if Pharaoh's storm troopers would eat their lunch.  Suddenly it was over; the wall of water engulfed only the enemy Egyptians; God's people were saved. 

Moses' song is a song of salvation.  So is the song of the Lamb…but it is not just one battle; it is the salvation of souls for eternity.

THE SONG REVERES GOD'S WAY

Only the redeemed sing this song.  Only the saints can praise their King Jesus.  Like Pharaoh's army, all the rest of mankind will curse God's name, and then be engulfed in everlasting punishment.  It is God's way, holy and just, you're His, or you are His enemy!

The Severity of God’s Judgment

Then I looked and saw that the Temple in heaven, God’s Tabernacle, was thrown wide open.  The seven angels who were holding the seven plagues came out of the Temple.  They were clothed in spotless white linen with gold sashes across their chests.  Then one of the four living beings handed each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.  Revelation 15.5-7

This judgment relates to Israel.  The wrath of God will be poured out over the entire earth, however, the references to the holy of holies, and now the bowls of wrath, are "temple language". 

In Old Testament temple practice, the High Priest entered the innermost place of the tabernacle (holy of holies) one time each year on the Day of Atonement.  This was to make sacrifice for the sins of the entire nation of Israel.  He wore a long white robe, girdled with a gold belt, and carried a bowl of blood from a freshly slain lamb. 

This most holy place on earth was so exclusive to the holiness of God that only the High Priest could enter, and only after intense preparation, prayer, and ceremonial washings.  The other attending priests would tie a rope around his ankles as a precautionary measure.  If the High Priest’s preparation and motives were impure when he entered behind the curtain that separated the temple from that holy place, God’s holy wrath would kill him instantly.  They would have to drag out the body, because no other priest in his right mind would go in to retrieve it.

In today’s Revelation text the angels emerge from the temple in heaven, clothed in white and gold, to receive bowls of wrath.  It is the beginning of the finality of God's wrath poured out upon the earth through His people, Israel.

IT IS A HARSH JUDGMENT

Seven bowls indicate a complete judgment.  God will leave no sin unpunished, no affront to His character unnoticed.  Every detail will receive His scrutiny. 

IT IS A HOLY JUDGMENT

We do not like to think of our God harshly punishing sinners.  But it doesn't matter what we think; it matters that God has said! 

The High Priestly dress of the angels indicates they bridge the gulf between man and God.  In this case it is a frightening gift of punishment.  The words of a favorite hymn echo this...

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword,

His truth is marching on.[2]

It is the truth-nature of God that requires judgment on sin.  Holy God cannot stand sin in any form; it is detestable to holy God to have His creation corrupted.  For God to lie to us in His word that sin might not be judged completely, and without exception, would be a violation of God’s holy character.  If our sin is not covered by the blood of Christ, it will be crushed with this bowl of wrath.

The Sovereign

The Temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power.  No one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.  Revelation 15.8

As in the days of Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness, the presence of God is described as smoke filling the whole tabernacle.  The holiness of God echoes throughout the pages of holy Scripture:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple....And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.    Isaiah 6:1, 4(KJV)

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.    Exodus 40:34-35

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.  1 Kings 8:10-11[3]

So ends the Explanation; now we move to 

Application


Our daily living requires us to SEE and BE the singers of worship.  God’s holiness calls and commands us to be holy, perfect, even as HE is perfect (see Matthew 5:48). 

When God’s people strive for this perfection in love, the room fills with His presence and glory, and God transforms us into the powerful hand of God to do the work of God.  We reach for the beauty and touch heaven.

Peter Marshall, in a sermon called The Risk of the Reach, told of a young German soldier in a dirty, bloodstained uniform standing on the firing step of a trench in World War I.  It was an early summer afternoon, and the battlefield was quiet. The young soldier had a wistful, faraway expression on his face.  

Suddenly a butterfly fluttered into view and alighted on the ground almost at the end of his rifle.  It was a strange visitor to a battleground, so out of place.  But it was there, a gorgeous creature with wings as gold splashed with ruby coloring, swaying in the warm breath of spring.  As the war-weary youngster watched the butterfly, he was no longer a private in a field-gray uniform.  He was a boy again, fresh and clean, swinging through a field in sunny Saxony, knee-deep in clover, buttercups, and daisies.  That strange visitor to the front-line trench recalled to him the joys of boyhood, when he had collected butterflies. It spoke to him of days of peace.  It was a symbol of the lovelier things of life.  It was the emblem of the eternal, a reminder that there was still beauty and peace in the world.

He forgot the enemy a few hundred yards across no man's land.  He forgot the danger, deprivation, and suffering.  He forgot everything as he watched the butterfly.  He reached out toward the butterfly; his fingers moved slowly, cautiously, lest he frighten away this visitor to the battlefield.  But showing one kind of caution, he forgot another.  The butterfly was just beyond his reach, so he stretched, forgetting that watchful eyes were waiting for a target.  He brought himself out slowly, with infinite care and patience, until he had just a little distance to go.  He could almost touch the wings that were so lovely.  And then a sniper's bullet found it's mark.  The stretching fingers relaxed, then dropped flat on the ground.  For the private soldier in field-gray, the war was over.    

There is always a risk when one reaches for the lovelier, finer, more fragile things of life.  And that is what worship is:  reaching for the beautiful.[4]

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Title Image:  Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture from The New Living Translation 


[1]John Phillips, Exploring Revelation, (Neptune, N.J., Loizeaux Bros., 1993), 187

[2]MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY, Words:  Julia Ward Howe, Music: American Folk

[3] Emphasis added by me for these three passages for sermonic stress.

[4] Bob Raby Belmont Church of Christ, Dayton, Ohio.   



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