“Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God’s wrath will be completed. I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, his image, and the number of his name were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb: “Great and awe-inspiring are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations. Lord, who will not fear and glorify Your name? Because You alone are holy, for all the nations will come and worship before You because Your righteous acts have been revealed.” After this I looked, and the heavenly sanctuary—the tabernacle of testimony—was opened. Out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean, bright linen, with gold sashes wrapped around their chests. One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. Then the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God’s glory and from His power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.” (Revelation 15:1-8 HCSB)
A dear friend of mine began to have issues with her vision late in life. She had well over 75 years of good vision, but the last few years of her life were riddled with declining health and failing eyesight. I had another friend who lost his vision as a very young child, so he spent over 80 years without sight. To be honest, I really can’t imagine life without sight.
The friend without sight for most of his life had learned to adapt quite well. He had honed his other senses and his memory to make up for his blindness. My friend who lost her sight late in life struggled to adapt and grieved over her blindness. The friend who had been blind most of his life had learned how to move around the town where he lived by memorizing paths and recognizing his location through things he could sense without seeing them. The friend who lost her sight late in life struggled to find her way around anywhere.
Regardless of whether we have physical vision or not, God has given us the ability to “see” things that are not physically visible. He’s given us sight and insight into spiritual things if we’re willing to look. Throughout Scripture, the idea of “having eyes that see” or “having ears that hear” means that we can know, see, and hear things that can only be known spiritually if we really want to. Jesus even confronts the spiritual leaders of His day with the charge that they are the “blind leading the blind.” His point is not that they can’t see but that they refuse to see. They have the capacity for spiritual insight, but they absolutely refuse to see what God is trying to show them. In many ways, we live in the midst of a culture that is simply blind to the things of God.
John has used the phrase “then I saw” to introduce the visions he’s seen throughout Revelation, but notice that he not only sees something, he sees a “great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven.” The idea of a sign, especially one in heaven, is like a huge neon arrow pointing to what God wants him to see and what He wants us to focus on. So pay close attention to the sign: “seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God’s wrath will be completed.” Everything in the created order is coming down to these seven last plagues because, with them, God will bring His wrath on sin to its intended fulfillment. The word translated “completed” in this verse is the exact same word translated “It is finished” in John 19:30 (Gr. teleo). John wants us to have spiritual insight into these challenging things about life, sin, faith, and God’s righteous judgment. Hold on to that idea; we’ll come back to it.
John also saw “something like a sea of glass mixed with fire,” and those who had been victorious over the beast, his image, and the number of his name were standing on the sea of glass. We’ve talked about this sea in front of God’s throne before, but in that earlier image the sea was more a symbol of chaos and separation from God and His throne. Now the sea is calm and glass-like, mixed with (or reflecting) fire, and the victorious saints stand upon it. Instead of a sea that prevents access to God, we find a sea that has been “tamed” or calmed. It is mixed with fire (judgment), and those who have trusted God and been victorious over the beast are able to approach God’s throne by walking on its water.
Most scholars point to the seven angels with the seven plagues that complete or fulfill God’s wrath as the focus of the “great and awe-inspiring sign” that John sees. To do so, in my opinion, is shortsighted and misses the impact of his vision and this sign. A sign is meant to draw your attention and focus it on what’s important. While the angels and their plagues are dramatically important, they are only one half of this sign. I keep telling you that these visions are filled with contrast driven by their context. I believe this sign is all about the contrast between two visions of God’s judgment upon sin, and they’re both visible in this image if you pay close attention.
I pointed out above that the completion or fulfillment of God’s wrath in this vision is expressed with the same word John records Jesus speaking from the cross: “It is finished!” The entire message of the gospel is that our sin separates us from God, but Jesus’ righteous life and sacrificial death were offered as payment to satisfy God’s wrath for our sin. Then why are these “seven last plagues” presented as the fulfillment of God’s wrath upon sin?
It’s really quite simple, but eternally profound. If you reject the offer God made for your sin by grace through faith in Jesus, then God’s wrath must be satisfied in some righteous way. If you reject Jesus, His sinless life, and His sacrificial death as the gift of God to cover your sin, then His wrath must be satisfied by some other righteous act. But you and I have no righteousness to offer Him for our guilt and sin. So again, God must pour out the righteous act of His eternal judgment.
Next, notice that the victorious saints who stand on the sea have harps given to them by God, and they sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. I think three things are brought out here: (1) their song is possible because of what God provides; (2) their song encompasses both the Old and the New Covenants; and (3) their worship is focused on God, His worthiness, and His righteous acts. I want to touch briefly on each of these.
First, even worship and praise flow out of what God provides and has done in us. We have a tendency to make worship more about us and our feelings than about God and His glory. The harps used to express their song of worship toward God are instruments God Himself provided. Our worship should flow out of our gratitude and love for God. One of the things I think we often miss about faith is that it isn’t something you “work up” from within yourself. Faith is the natural result of God’s faithfulness, and worship is the natural result of God’s glory, character, and actions. Listen to the first stanza of the song they sing: “Great and awe-inspiring are Your works, LORD God, the Almighty.” We only know His awe-inspiring works because of who He is: LORD God, the Almighty.
Second, they sing the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb. This combines the Sinai Covenant and the Exodus with the Calvary Covenant and the new Exodus. The message and promises of the Old and New Testaments come together in the righteousness and sacrifice of Jesus. Notice: “Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations.” God has brought the saints of the Old Testament together with the saints of the New Testament, and they stand united before the throne of God in faith, submission, trust, and obedience to the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and to whom God has subjected all nations (John 14:6; Psalm 2).
Third, they are a diverse group from every tribe, nation, language, and people, and they stand together united in their worship of God. The church should reflect this diversity, and we must diligently pursue and embrace the unity Jesus says will identify His disciples. “Father, protect them by Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are one” (John 17:11b). We are diverse in all of our characteristics, features, and skills, but we are one body in Christ. All of this is so that “the nations will come and worship before You because Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Finally, John looks and sees the heavenly sanctuary—the tabernacle of testimony—opened. As we’ve seen before, this is the place where God made His presence known to man: the Holy of Holies (Gr. naos). From out of the Holy of Holies, from God’s very presence, come seven angels with the seven plagues. These angels are dressed in such a way that they resemble the temple priests, and they closely match the description of Jesus in Revelation 1. The emphasis seems to be that they come from God’s presence with purity, righteousness, and authority, bearing the seven plagues that fulfill God’s wrath upon man’s unrighteousness. As they come, one of the four living creatures gives them seven bowls filled with the wrath of God.
As soon as these angels came from the sanctuary, it was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power. The glory and power of God so filled the sanctuary that no one could enter until the seven plagues were completed. For just a minute, I need you to sit there and let those words and that thought overwhelm you. You and I often struggle to understand and fully comprehend the wrath God has toward sin. Instead of trying to craft a way of describing it, let me use Jesus’ own words.
He tells the story of a vineyard owner in Matthew 21. In the story, the owner built and equipped the vineyard and then leased it to tenant farmers. When harvest time came, the owner sent his servants to collect his fruit, but the farmers beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking they would respect him. Instead, they killed the son so they could claim his inheritance. When Jesus asked those listening what the owner should do to the farmers, they responded, “He should completely destroy those terrible men and give the vineyard to farmers who will do the right thing for the owner” (my paraphrase of Matt. 21:33-40).
The real reason we struggle to understand God’s wrath toward sin is because we fail to see and comprehend our own sin. Oh, we agree that some people deserve God’s wrath—just probably not you and certainly not me. We can see the need to judge heinous people and their acts, but we never count ourselves among them. Like I said last week, the man who thinks he’s the most humble man in the world is really only fooling himself. The man who thinks he’s righteous and morally perfect is only fooling himself.
If you didn’t get the point of the parable above, let me state it directly: you and I treat God like the farmers treated the vineyard owner. This world is His vineyard, and we act like we own it. When He reminds us, we tell Him to keep His nose out of our business.
Wait a second—this is His business. We belong to Him; He made us. You would be filled with righteous rage too if someone destroyed the greatest thing you ever made. Therein lies the problem: we fail to see ourselves as His possession, His crowning creation. We see ourselves as self-made men and women, and we’re blind to the most heinous sin man has ever devised: declaring ourselves to be god over our own lives. We deny God and His right to be LORD of our lives every time we fail to hear Him, see Him, and obey Him. We refuse to sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Instead of standing before the throne of God, we try to kick Him out and take His seat. No wonder His righteous anger is ready to be poured out upon the earth.
Here’s the stark contrast I mentioned at the beginning and the sign we must be willing to see: you will either walk on the water mixed with the fire of God’s righteous judgment by grace through faith in Jesus before the throne of God, or you will be consumed by the righteous act of God’s judgment upon sin through the seven plagues that bring His wrath to completion.
Just like Peter on that fateful night on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus beckons us to step out of the boat and onto the waves of the sea that threaten to keep us separated from God. We either walk by faith on the water mixed with the fire of God’s judgment upon our sin, or we reject faith in Jesus and are consumed by the fire of God’s righteous wrath upon our sin.
You’re either delivered from His wrath by faith or you’re destroyed by it… it’s your choice.
Choose wisely, my friend.
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