7 Bowls

The flow of the book of Revelation has stumped readers and commentators for years. Do all these 7s happen sequentially? Do they happen concurrently? As I read, I understand them to be layered.

I realize that years, months, weeks and days are not all “seven”, but I believe to understand this literature John wants us to think in terms of seven seals are like seven years. The 7 Trumpets are like 7 months that happen during the last year, the 7 bowls/plagues are like 7 weeks that happen during the last month.

15:1 indicates that these are the final expressions of wrath before God’s wrath is finished.

Today’s text reveals both the sweetness of victory for one side and the excruciating bitterness of defeat for the others.

God intended a humanity where every human being was a “winner”. He created a world with innocence and blessing where everything was good. Rather than accept this good creation, humanity rebelled and pursued something they thought was better, which then divided the human experience into two teams—those who cooperate with the plan of God, and those who oppose the plan of God.

Frequently throughout history righteousness or wickedness appears to have the upper hand, but the message of the Book of Revelation is that eventually evil loses and Christ is proven Victor over all.

Transition: As the Spirit of God reveals this final victory to the Apostle John, He shares with us both the winners and the losers in this battle. Before the horrifying events of chapter 16, John tries to entice us to the right side with beauty.

Those Who Stand (Revelation 15)

Victory brings beauty (v.2)

glass mixed with fire – sounds like the most beautiful sunset I could imagine

Some of us have seen demonstrations of glass blowing. There is a unique beauty to that molten glass as colors are introduced and the shape of the item begins to flow and expand. It is that beautiful flowing red, pink, orange and yellow that I often see in a beautiful sunset and I envision as I read v.2

Victory brings relief (v.3)

1. Have you ever played a harp? Whether we are talking about a large orchestral harp or a smaller lyre, they both require 2 hands. A person cannot hold a weapon and play a harp at the same time!

I realize the economics that prompts many churches to designate multi-purpose space. In our own history we started with the space on the other side of that wall that served many purposes, but there came a time when our congregation determined that we wanted a space designated for the worship of God and this room was finished off. Other spaces are more suited for activities, other spaces are more intimate for discipleship, but this space is set apart for worship. It is called a “sanctuary” a place that has been sanctified (set apart) for a purpose. There are times when it is most appropriate to set aside our effort and rest in His praise.

2. A person makes a conscious choice to lay down tools of service, and weapons of conflict and pick up your instruments of praise.

Imagine with me a hiker with a pair of field glasses in her hand or a photographer holding a camera. In both these situations the person is looking for beauty and eager to capture it.

3. I get the same idea with a musician with his hands on his instrument. A guitar on a stand does not have the same anticipation as one that is strapped on the front of a musician with pick in right hand and left hand on the neck.

4. These victors are eager and prepped in anticipation to breakout in praise.

Victory brings praise (vv.3b-4)

1. The victory song is not based upon what we have accomplished, it is rooted in what God has done!

· Your deeds

· Your ways

· Your name

· Worship you

· Your righteous acts

2. There comes a time when the exuberance of the finish line gives way to the decorum of the podium.

Victory brings stillness (vv.5-8)

1. This stillness is a recognition that although the personal struggles of the saints is completed, God’s final act of righteousness over wickedness is just beginning.

2. The song of Moses is mentioned in v. 3 because Moses had told the people in Ex 14:13 to stand firm and witness the salvation worked by the Lord.

3. Rev 15 ends with the saints standing on the shore watching the might of God against the enemies of the people of God.

Show clip: https://youtu.be/urLHbbwE1CQ

Transition: The beauty, relief and praise of the saints is tempered by the suffering of the wicked. This is pictured as 7 angels each pouring out a plague from a prepared bowl of wrath.

Those Who Suffer (Revelation 16)

Wrath upon Creation (that which was damaged by man’s rebellion)

1. The trumpet judgments, for instance, impact one-thirdof the affected entities (8:7–8) while the effect of the bowl judgments is universal (16:3–4, 18).

2. In addition, the response to the bowl judgments is more venomous—blaspheming and satanic opposition are present (16:9, 13–14).

3. An air of finality is also unique to the bowls (16:17)

Sores(v.2)

Oozing lesions have been associated with many pandemics (boils in Egypt)

Oosing sores (such as leprosy) indicated that one must be cut off from the worshipping community.

Seas (v.3)

The death started by 1/3 in the 2nd Trumpet is now completed upon the other 2/3.

Springs(v.4)

1. We see in 16:6 that this is a poetic way of satisfying their bloodthirst.

2. The phrase they deserve it (v. 6) suggests an important literary and theological point. The perspective of Revelation toward those who resist and rebel against the Lord is not at all sympathetic. They are seldom pictured as the beneficiaries of evangelism, and never of prayer, apparently because their longstanding resistance to God has hardened them to the gospel. Rather, they are consistently presented as rejecting God, and destroying His people. They will therefore be destroyed themselves, and rightly so.

Sun (vv.8-9)

In the 4th Trumpet the earth loses a 1/3 of its solar energy, now the heat is magnified on the earth without water available to mediate the effects.

This scorching of the people does not bring repentance. The people are digging in on their opposition to God.

Wrath upon the Beast (he who tempted man’s rebellion)

Satan’s kingdom (vv.10-11)

Any “shine” that the beast was experiencing in his ruling over the peoples is now totally removed. His approval rating drop so that even the most supportive media cannot prop him up.

V.11 – things turn bad but people still won’t lay the blame on the beast. They (rightfully) acknowledge that this downturn is from the hand of God.

Rather than embrace the hand of chastisement, they become even more embittered.

His spirits (vv.12-14)

The unholy triad that we observed last week now releases demons from East of the Euphrates.

World politics and geography would indicate to us that the conflict between Iran and Israel is not going away anytime soon.

These kings from the east act at the command of the unholy triad. Many times conflict is NOT a matter of human diplomacy, but an outworking of spiritual conflict.

His soldiers (vv.16-21)

I believe vv.19-20 is a picture of the damage that mankind will do to each other

V.21 becomes God’s exclamation point at the end of the story.

As we have narrowed the focus from years to weeks, I believe the next 2 chapters will narrow the focus even more into the final hours of those who oppose God.

Conclusion:

Like Israel in the Exodus, God’s people will again triumph; the certainty of the new redemption is rooted in our confidence in the old one

For John, the songs of Moses and the Lamb were not two separate songs, as if Old Testament redemption and New Testament redemption were discontinuous and incompatible ideas. Jesus as the Lamb has provided the climactic act of redemption, akin to the paschal lamb of the first Exodus, so the song of Moses is also the song of the Lamb[i]

I’m not here today to scare you into Heaven. I want to be faithful to declare that a just God cannot ignore sin.

God never acts capriciously. His wrath is exercised when His justice is offended.

Many people today do not like to talk about divine judgment; in their view, that is not what a god is for. But Santa Claus theology “cannot cope with the reality of evil” or seemingly senseless sufferings. To make God kind but never firm (as many liberals have done) is “to deny his omnipotence and lordship over” a world full of sufferings.