Armageddon

ME: Judgment Day Intro

*Are we there yet?

No one can accuse God of being unfair.

Revelation 6 had the first judgment cycle with the seal judgments.

Then Revelation 8-9 had the second judgment cycle with the trumpet judgments.

Now in Revelation 15-16, we come to the third judgment cycle, the bowl judgments.

This is the final cycle of judgments that lead up to Christ’s Second Coming.

One of the main questions regarding these cycle of judgments is related to whether they are three different cycles,

Or the same cycle presented and described three different ways.

With this third and final cycle presenting it in the most intense way.

We know the bowl judgments are the final judgments before the Second Coming of Christ.

Whether it is the same as the previous two cycles,

Or a third cycle,

We know that the bowl judgments are the most intense events in world history.

And in preparation for these intense judgments,

Ch. 15 begins with John seeing God being worshiped by those who overcome.

As we talked about last week,

The wrath of God displays the glory of God,

And God is being worshiped for His fair judgment and His glory.

The overcomers are overjoyed,

Singing and celebrating in the presence of God.

Then, John’s attention is quickly brought to the seven angels pouring out God’s judgments from seven bowls.

God’s judgments being poured out of the bowls are similar to the cup of God’s wrath being poured out that we saw last week.

So, if you picture like a bowl filled with wine,

So, that the wine pouring out has the image of blood being spilled.

The bowls are poured out at God’s command.

The result of these bowls being poured out are plagues upon the earth concluding the wrath of God.

These bowl judgments are notably similar to the trumpet judgments.

The first four judgments in both instances devastate the four major regions of creation;

land, sea, fresh water, and sky.

Like the trumpet judgments,

The bowl judgments echo the plagues in Egypt from Exodus.

But the bowls are much more severe than the trumpets.

If you remember, the trumpet was always said to affect a third of creation,

While the bowl judgments seem to affect creation as a whole.

The judgments of God are poured out because of sin.

His judgments are against all forms of godlessness.

It is the final war on godlessness that we refer to as Armageddon.

Rev. 20 shows another battle and it would seem it is the same final battle in both passages.

Lord willing, when we get to ch. 20, we will look at the features from ch. 20 that seem to correspond with our passage this morning.

WE: Preparations for Judgment (15:1-8)

This morning, let us begin looking at the Preparations for Judgment in Rev. 15;

Revelation 15 ESV

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 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, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

How do the preparations give hope and encouragement?

Ch. 15 begins with a hope filled and encouraging realization,

These seven plagues are the last,

With them, the wrath of God is finished,

The end is in sight!

Exodus 15:1-8, what parallels does this passage share with vs. 2-4?

The hopeful encouragement continues in vs. 2,

The sea of glass brings us back to the throne room of God in ch. 4.

Also standing beside the sea of glass, it says,

Are those who had conquered the beast.

Who are these conquerors?

We have heard them described in a variety of ways;

Those who dwell in heaven,

Believers,

The elect,

The church,

The bride of Christ,

The redeemed,

And saints.

The saints here are filled with joy from God,

As it says they have harps of God in their hand.

With their harps of God, they sing the song of Moses.

This is an allusion to song of Moses in Exodus 15:1-8;

Exodus 15:1–8 ESV

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

Exodus 15 runs parallel with this passage because the Israelites were delivered from idolatrous oppression through plagues in Exodus.

Here, Revelation points toward a future deliverance for saints from idolatrous oppression through plagues.

And in both instances, God’s people respond in song!

A key them in this song is the Just nature of God.

God’s judgments are not spiteful,

They are fitting payment for evil deeds.

The just nature of God is mentioned in Rev. 16:5, 7; 19:2, 11; as well.

Later in the song, the question is asked, who will not fear the Lord and glorify His name?

Remember, the Lord’s name speaks of His character.

So, to glorify His name is to glorify His character.

High view of God

After the song of Moses, John looks and sees the sanctuary open.

The sanctuary of the tent of witness is the innermost part of God’s heavenly dwelling.

Also described as the heavenly temple or the tabernacle of testimony in other translations.

We have already seen this being opened pictured earlier in Revelation.

But now, we are seeing the seven angels coming out of the sanctuary.

They are wearing pure, bright linen.

Linen is the garment that priests wore in the OT,

As we see described in Lev. 16:4;

Leviticus 16:4 ESV

He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on.

This description emphasizes the holiness of God and the holiness of His judgments.

Then vs. 8 shows the sanctuary being filled with smoke from the glory of God and His power.

Smoke is something that frequently accompanies God’s presence.

We saw that on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:9; 20:18,

And the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel.

GOD: Pouring Out Judgment (16:1-16)

Once the preparation for judgment are complete,

And the seven angels have the seven bowls,

They begin Pouring Out Judgment in Rev. 16:1-16;

Revelation 16:1–16 ESV

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Glory and judgment seen together

Vs. 16 begins with God commanding the angels to basically go and destroy the world by pouring out the seven bowls of wrath on the earth.

This means all those who dwell on the earth,

That is, those who are not sealed by the Holy Spirit, or unbelievers,

Will be the recipients of this judgment.

The first judgment poured out results in harmful and painful sores on the earth.

This is like the plague of boils that came upon Egypt in Exodus 9.

The second and third bowl are very similar.

The result for both is water turning to blood.

With the second bowl, the sea became blood and every living thing in the sea died.

With the third bowl, rivers and fresh water became blood.

Again echoing the plague of blood in Egypt from Exodus 7.

People fail to repent

Skipping ahead to the fifth bowl in vs. 10, plunges the kingdom of the beast into darkness.

This is like the plague of darkness that came upon Egypt in Exodus 10 but worse!

The people in this darkness are in so much pain, it says they are gnawing their tongues.

The picture here is so graphic.

You know how you clench your jaw when you are in pain?

Well, the picture here is saying the people in darkness are in so much pain,

They are clenching their jaw down on their tongue in hopes of alleviating the anguish they are in.

God’s patience with mankind will come to an end

Vs. 13-14 shows the unholy trinity gathering their army for the battle of Armageddon.

They go throughout all the world to gather together the antichrist-like kings of the world.

This is the climactic battle that Revelation has been building toward.

The forces of wickedness assemble in preparation for their battle with the Lamb.

We see the result of this war in Rev. 17:14;

Revelation 17:14 ESV

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

This final battle seems to be based upon the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39.

Throughout history, there have been and will continue to be,

Intense battles between God and God’s saints against Satan and his forces.

But our passage shows that the most intense confrontation of all will occur at the Second Coming of Christ.

Stay alert and remain clothed

Until Christ comes, He says stay alert and be ready.

He is coming like a thief and the one who stays awake, clothed, and ready will be blessed.

The one who is naked and unready when Christ comes will be put to shame.

Then, vs. 16 shows this final battle will take place at Armageddon.

This is the only place the word Armageddon is found in the Bible.

The word Armageddon is a transliteration for Mount of Megiddo.

It is the scene of the final conflict between Christ and Antichrist.

We see Megiddo referenced in 2 Kings 23:29.

It is a city in the valley of Jezreel where King Josiah of Judah was killed by Pharoah Neco.

It belonged to the tribe of Manasseh.

Megiddo was a key city in ancient Israel.

It overlooked a major travel route between the kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Armies would assemble in the Plain of Esdraelon nearby.

Making the Mount of Megiddo known as the great battlefield of Palestine.

It is the modern day city of el-Lejjun.

This does not necessarily mean this location in present day Jerusalem will be where the battle will take place.

But it is certainly possible that is what John is saying here.

YOU: Conclusion of Judgments (16:17-21)

After the forces of evil assemble at Armageddon,

The seventh angel pours out the seventh bowl,

Bring a Conclusion of Judgments in Rev. 16:17-21;

Revelation 16:17–21 ESV

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

People continue to curse God with their dying breath

The seventh bowl finally brings the cycle of judgments to an end.

Like we have seen with the seventh judgment in the previous two cycles,

The seventh judgment ends with the second coming of Christ.

Later in Revelation the fall of Babylon is associated with the last battle,

And is immediately followed by the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Vs. 16 showed the final battle was imminent,

And it continues to draw from the imagery of the final battle between Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38.

This shows the plagues and judgments accompany the battle of Armageddon.

But the drama of Revelation builds up this battle for a future presentation in Rev. 19.

WE: Gospel

*God will pour our His wrath on your sin, unless you trust that He poured out His wrath on the Son.