March 1, 2020
Norwalk First United Methodist Church
Book of Revelation
First Sunday in Lent
The Seven Bowls
Revelation 15:1-16:21
Today, as we move into Chapters 15 and 16 of the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John’s vision introduces us to another group of seven, seven plagues, that will be sent to earth by God’s angels. This is the third set of seven. If you remember, the number seven means completion or perfection. If we have three sets of seven, seven seals, seven trumpets, and now seven bowls, we have holy perfection.
While the angels with the trumpets only brought partial destruction to the earth, the angels with the seven bowls will now bring complete destruction. All these plagues harken back to John’s knowledge of the plagues God brought upon Pharaoh’s Egypt in the Book of Exodus.
With the last of the seven angels with the bowls of plagues, the wrath of God has come to fulfillment. This is the last judgment of God, but is the sign that the persecution of the Christians has come to an end. Chapter 15 basically serves as an introduction to the seven bowls that will follow in Chapter 16. Now, those persecuted Christians and martyrs find themselves victorious and in the safety of God. Would you pray with me?
PRAYER
As John’s vision opens, we are in the throne room of God. The floor before the throne looks like a sea of glass, which represents the tranquility of heaven and the peace before the throne. But not today. The sea of glass is mixed with fire. God’s judgment is about to descend upon the earth. Hebrews 12 speaks of God as “a consuming fire.” In Matthew 3, John the Baptist tells the people about the one who will come after him. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Who is standing on the glass, gathered around the throne, and participating in the judgment? Those who have conquered “the beast and his image and the number of his name.” These are the people who have remained faithful and loyal to God and Jesus even to their death. They did not succumb to the emperor worship required by Rome, even though some died the most savage of deaths. They are the real victors and their witness will be rewarded. They celebrate with a Song of Deliverance, the Song of Moses that gives God glory, because the victory is God’s doing.
Listen to what they sing: “Great and marvelous are your 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.” The martyrs knew this song well. The Song of Moses was sung at every Sabbath evening service in the synagogue and still is. The song commemorated the greatest deliverance in the history of God’s people. And these victorious martyrs, brought through the sea of persecution to the promised land of heaven are now singing that song as well.
As we come to verses five through eight of Chapter 15, they dramatically depict the final prelude to the judgment of the bowls. The Tabernacle of the Testimony, the ancient tabernacle in heaven, is opened and seven angels appear with broad and shallow gold bowls full of the wrath of God. This solemn occasion was both priestly and royal, since the angels were dressed in bright, fine linen with a gold sash around their chests. It was also heavenly since they will be executing God’s decrees on the earth.
As the angels appear, smoke fills the temple representing the glory of God. It was known that when smoke or a cloud covered the tabernacle, God was said to rest there, and no one could approach the place where God resided because of his overwhelming holiness and glory. Also, within the smoke or cloud is the idea that the purposes of God will often be clouded to men and women, for no one can see into the mind of God.
It is at this point that the temple doors are closed, and no one is able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels are finished. Folks, God tries to afford everyone the time and opportunity to repent and come back to him. You see, God’s mercy is all encompassing, but there is a limit to his divine patience. Even in religious and spiritual relationships, there are “points of no return.” Until God serves his punishment and wrath on the earth’s unfaithful, the temple doors will remain closed.
As Chapter 16 opens, John sees that the punishment is swift and complete. “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” Please notice that in John’s vision he sees most of this destruction targeted against the beast and those who worship the beast, that is, Rome, the Emperor, and the emperor worshipers. And many of the images of God’s wrath are reminiscent of the plagues we find in the Book of Exodus.
The first angel poured out of his bowl ugly and painful sores upon the people who worshiped the beast. The second angel poured his bowl into the sea causing it to become blood so that every living thing in it died. The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs causing them to become blood. Since many towns and cities were built by rivers and seas, turning them to blood would have affected their ability to fish and to have drinking water, which would lead to starvation. In the case of the first three angels, the persecution and killing by Rome, which drew so much blood from the Christians, have as a just consequence the blood of the seas and rivers to drink. The angel of the waters says, “They deserve it.”
The fourth angel causes the sun to scorch people with fire. But look what it says in verse nine. Despite all these judgments so far, and in spite of knowing that these had come from God because of their activity and participation in demonic evil, people still did not repent and give glory to God. Folks, there will always be those who, given the right of choice, will reject God beyond the point of no return.
The fifth angel’s bowl of wrath is directed at the beast, that is the Emperor Domitian, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Yet, even though they had suffered pain and sores and darkness, the persecutors still cursed God and did not repent.
As John writes about the sixth angel, the angel that dries up the great river, God uses the threat of a military force coming from the east across the dry Euphrates River to bring judgment upon the Roman army for the persecution of the Christians. This vision bolsters the hopes of the faithful that their persecutor, Rome, will be destroyed. This is typical in apocalyptic writing. You see, one of the greatest enemies of the Romans from the east was the Parthian calvary. It was the most dreaded fighting force in the world and the Romans feared them sweeping into their empire.
In fact, the dragon, Satan, was encouraging a great battle of the nations of the region. The three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon and the beast represented croaking propaganda, lies, and superstitions that would cause these great powers to battle God in the Jezreel Valley near the city of Megiddo. This is where many of the battles of the Old Testament took place. It is the place called Armageddon. Jews and Christians knew of this famous battle ground. But look at the passage carefully. The great war never takes place.
As this chapter and its terrors concludes, the seventh angel pours out his bowl into the air. It pollutes the air and the very life of humans is attacked. Nature is at war with humankind. There is lightning, thunder, earthquakes, and hailstorms. God intervenes directly and judges the great city, Rome, called by some to be as evil as Babylon, as it is split into three parts. God also destroys the islands that were used to detain banished people and the seven hills that held the city of Rome. The scene is one of desperation, but it depicts judgment on the persecutors. The emptying of the seven bowls of wrath upon the earth ends with the chorus which has run all through the chapter. The people to whom these things happened remained resistant and unmoved by any appeal of God’s love or God’s anger. Unfortunately, God has given men and women the terrible responsibility of being able to lock their hearts against him.
Brother and sisters in Christ, please remember that these are visions that God gave the Apostle John to be shared with the persecuted Christians of that time. It was a letter of encouragement and hope that the persecuted should remain faithful to God and that God would soon intervene and bring judgment upon the persecutors, that is, Rome. God does remain faithful to those he has sealed as his own. He provides for their safety and guarantees that they will have a home with him for all eternity. God did intervene after a short time of persecution. The Emperor Domitian was assassinated in September 96 A.D. by his court officials. The persecution ended. Good overcame evil.