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. 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. 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.”
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. 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 15:1-8
Occasionally we get a glimpse of God’s wrath poured out on humanity, and
it scares us…or should! Reading those
last few sentences about nobody being able to enter the Temple because of the
plagues and the smoke of God’s glory gave me a bit of a chilling down my
spine. I couldn’t resist comparing the
way our 2020 Coronavirus plague locked us out of the
church for several months.
People from every generation have offered interpretation of the Revelation
visions, and some of those seem to make a lot of sense. There are two principles which I have come to
understand governing any thoughts about the End Times of Apostle John’s
visions:
1.
Revelation is an apocalyptic
vision; some of it is literal, some metaphorical. Deciding which is which is tricky stuff, and
should be approached with respect…you’re on holy ground, here.
2.
Revelation is, literally, an unveiling,
and the full title is The Revelation of Jesus Christ. So, ultimately, everything in the book points
to Him.
I would not venture to say in any conclusive or dogmatic
way just what is in those bowls of God’s wrath the angels hold. However, it’s safe to say that wrath adheres
to principle #2, everything in the Book reveals, or unveils Jesus Christ. If judgment day is filled with God’s
conclusive behavior, it is also unveiling God’s righteous nature, seen in the
character of Jesus Christ. That includes
mercy and grace.
Uhm….mercy and grace in wrath bowls; did we hear that right? Well, I did say understanding John’s visions is tricky stuff! Mystery is still mysterious!
For You Today
So, what do we draw from this day’s
problematic stuff? The only stable
ground I can offer you with such a task is to do exactly what those
wrath-bearing angels did, praise God.
Hear them again(Revelation 15:3-4):
“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.”
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
Title image, Pixabay.com and W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on Revelation 15 see: Righteous and True and
Blessed Enemy
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