Final Vision of the End


Revelation 16:1-11
1Then 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.” 2So 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. 3The 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. 4The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 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. 6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” 7And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” 8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9They 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. 10The 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 11and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

The Lord Himself now speaks from the Temple and commands the seven angels bearing the seven censers (or bowls) filled with His wrath to come forth and pour out the contents of their bowls. This is a terrifying final description of The End. We know that it is God who speaks because of the authority with which the command is given and because of other references to His voice.

Isaiah 66:5–6
5Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name’s sake have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy’; but it is they who shall be put to shame. 6“The sound of an uproar from the city! A sound from the temple! The sound of the Lord, rendering recompense to his enemies!

The results of the pouring out of God’s wrath are indeed grim.

“The severity of God’s judgments will increase as the end of this world at Christ’s return draws nearer. In fact, this is the overall emphasis in this third vision of earthly events. While some of the events presented in this third vision repeat those in the second, in the third vision they are all intensified in order to portray God’s final warning of the seriousness of his judgment at the End. While parallels exist between the first four trumpets and the first four bowls [censers], it should be noticed that the latter series is not a recapitulation of the former but an intensification of divine recompense which shares its imagery. The first four bowls are, therefore, a great allegory of the disastrous effects of original sin, exactly as were the first four seals and the first four trumpets.” The first four censer plagues reveal a “crescendo, not so much in the succession of the punishments as in the growing blindness and hardness of heart among men.”
Brighton, L. A. ©1999. Revelation (p. 409). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House.

The severity of these final events has one purpose: to bring about repentance and a turning to the Lord for salvation. These are not punishments. The punishment was meted out upon Jesus Christ on the cross. But they are drastic events designed to melt the hearts of a belligerent people. Sadly, for the most part, it doesn’t work. For those who are students of the Old Testament you might immediately make association with the plagues that God brought upon the nation of Egypt when they refused to allow the Hebrew slaves their freedom; water turning into blood, and painful sores being the most obvious.

An interesting side note: In verse 5, we see God described as “You who are and who were”. This is a departure in that the phrase “who is to come” is not present. This is because The End has arrived and Jesus is no longer coming but He is here.

It is difficult to find the Gospel in this passage. But over and over we find repeated the fact that God’s goal in allowing this disaster to fall upon the earth is so that man will repent. His ultimate desire is for our salvation not our destruction. The choice of those who reject God is on them. God’s grace always stands ready to receive the sinner into His Kingdom. Jesus grace and mercy is for all who would believe.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more