Revelation 15
15 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. 2And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and 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. 3And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
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Great and wonderful are thy deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are thy ways,
O King of the ages!
4Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord?
For thou alone art holy.
All nations shall come and worship thee,
for thy judgments have been revealed.
This brings us to the beginning of the end: the Seven Bowl Judgements. These are the final element of God's justice on the world. Those who have overcome the evils in this world praise God for His justice. The Song of Moses: Sung in Exodus 15, after the Egyptian Army has been destroyed by God at the Red Sea, celebrates God's deliverance of the Israelites. However, this hymn that John records is actually from Jeremiah 10:7 and Psalm 86:9, which in context celebrate the True God over false idols (Jeremiah 10) and His victory over enemies (Psalm 86).5After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever; 8and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
God again reveals His glory in the Temple, an allusion to 1 Kings 8, when Solomon has built the Temple, and brings the Ark into it. In verse 10, God's glory fills the Temple so thickly that, according to verse 11, the priests are unable to perform their duties because of God's Glory.
At the End, God's presence will be so thick with us, that there will be no denying Him, but everyone will have an awareness of Who He Is, and that His Judgements are true and just.
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Labels: Bible Study, Revelation
posted by Gregory at 4:03 p.m.
3 Comments:
If everybody's been trampled or reaped, who's left? And what, exactly, does the reaping entail?
~The Hidden One~
The Book of Revelation is not ordered strictly as a chronology. I believe that chapters 15 to 19 describe what, exactly, the reaping entails. The end of Chapter 14 does not necessarily happen in an instant. Whether or not it is past, present, or future isn't even clear, as evidenced by chapter 19.
The Key to Revelation, again, is the Liturgy, not the chronology. In the Liturgy, after the Liturgy of the Word is ended, the Liturgy of the Eucharist begins, with the offering and the bringing forth of the gifts (the bread and the wine to be consecrated). In the "Court of Heaven", it is when the Judgement begins, after the verdict of the readings and the homily have been pronounced.
Thus, in Revelation, in the Spiritual Liturgy of History, we have "the judged" facing the consequences and penalties of their warring against God. What was described in a few lines in chapter 14 is expounded upon now.
"The Book of Revelation is not ordered strictly as a chronology. I believe that chapters 15 to 19 describe what, exactly, the reaping entails."
This all makes much more sense to me now!
Thanks!
~The Hidden One~
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