Book of Revelation The Bowls of Wrath Chapter 16 part 1

All right, well, welcome everyone to our study this morning on Revelation chapter 16. We'll be talking about the bowls of wrath. This is part one. Good morning to you, Eric. Let's see, who else is here? Richard, Calvin, good to hear from you. Bishop, Deb, and let's see, who else is here? I'm sure others will come a little bit later. So, all right, chapter 16 continues the message of the seven angels. Revelation chapter 15, verse one, and also verses five through eight. And this regards the angels who come out of the temple with the seven last flags. So the seven angels that we talked about in the previous two lessons. They were given seven bowls, golden bowls, full of the wrath of God. And that's per verse seven of chapter 15. Then 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. The temple was filled with smoke. No one was able to enter the temple that is the most holy place, or the holy of holies. That's as we discussed from the word naos. And until the seven flags were completed. And so these seven bowls are presented to complete the wrath of God. Now, Ezekiel's vision before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar closely aligns with what we have here. And I would recommend if you haven't checked out the consummation of the ages by Kurt Simmons, that you get a copy of that and look at it. And what I've found is, you know, as I go through the study, I find several authors on the book of Revelation. And sometimes one author seems to be more focused, I should say, in a particular area than another, or has some comments that I think are worthy. And so with this one, I chose to use comments from Kurt Simmons' book. At any rate, as we said, Ezekiel's vision before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar seems to be the background for the text, because he sees this vision of four living creatures carrying the throne of God, who was seated above them. And one of the creatures took fire from among the wheels and put it into the hands of the man who was clothed in linen. And he took it and he went out from Ezekiel chapter 10 and verse seven. The man who was clothed with linen took the coals of fire and then scattered them over the city. So that symbolism was designed to indicate the complete destruction of the city by God, that is of Jerusalem by God. And so Ezekiel's vision resembles the wheeled lovers that Solomon made for cleaning the offerings of the children of Israel. When you look in 1 Kings chapter seven, beginning at verse 29, the text says on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frames were a pedestal on top, below the lions and oxen were reeds of planted wood. Now, if you go back to Ezekiel chapter one and start looking at the vision that Ezekiel received of these living creatures, you will see some correlation between that scene and what Solomon here, excuse me, describes. Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze and its four feet had supports. And under the lever were supports of cast bronze in each reed. Its opening inside the crown at the top of one cubit in diameter and the opening was round shaped like a pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter. And also on the opening were engravings, but the panels were square and not round. And under the panels were four wheels and the axles of the wheels were joined to the cart. The height of the wheel was one and a half cubits. The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel. Their axle, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast of bronze or of cast bronze. And again, if you're looking at Ezekiel's vision in chapter one, and you see the wheel in the middle of the wheel, you see the, that was under the cherubim, you also see the, or the four living creatures, you see the rims, et cetera. This just almost directly seems to be drawn from that imagery or vice versa, the imagery drawn from that. And so there were four supports at the four corners of each cart. Its support were part of the cart itself. On the top of the cart at the height of a half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on top of the cart, its flanges and its panels were of the same casting. And so on these plates of its flanges and on the panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each with wreaths all around. Thus he made the 10 carts, all of them were of the same mold, one measure and one shape. Now the marginal reference says that these were cauldrons, which Simmons believes the wheels were rolled on top of coals of fire and the contents boiled and seethed and the contents were washed. And you can see from 2 Chronicles chapter four and verse six, where he says he made 10 lovers and put five on the right side and five on the left to wash in them such things as they offered for the burnt offerings. They would wash in them, but the sea was for the priests to wash in. Now this matches Jeremiah's vision of the seething pot that was about to break forth from the north and be spilled out and overflow the land. You find that in Jeremiah chapter one, verses 13 through 16, where it says the word of Lord came to me the second time saying, what do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot. And it is facing from the north. Well, if you understand the enemy of Jerusalem at the time, Nebuchadnezzar was in the north. And so this seething pot represented the outbreak of the calamity that was about to come on Jerusalem from Nebuchadnezzar. But Jeremiah styled it as this seething pot. And so he says, then the Lord said to me out of the north, calamities shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord. They shall come and each one with his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem against all its walls all around, against all the cities of Judah. I will utter my judgments against them concerning their wickedness because they have forsaken me, burned incense to other gods, and worship the works of their own hands. And you can recall from chapter nine and from I think chapter 14 as well. And even in chapter 16, he talks about their idolatries and their sorceries, et cetera, from which they never repented. And these were the reasons that these judgments were coming upon them. So that pattern seems to be what is reflected in the book of Revelation. The living creatures give the angels who were clothed in linen vials full of the wrath of God to be scattered over the city and like the smoke of the glory of God that entered or rather in Ezekiel's vision, the house, so it fills the temple as we see in Revelation chapter 15 and verse eight. The text says the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from its power and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven flags were filled. So those standing on the sea of glass that we see in the earlier verses of chapter 15, verse two, I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who have the victory of the beast over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name standing on the sea of glass having the harps of God. We identified them with the 144,000 that were mentioned earlier in chapter 14. They represent those who had gained the victory. Again, they sing the song of Moses which was another Exodus theme from Exodus chapter 15 and so they're standing there but as verse eight says, they could not enter the temple until the seven flags were completed and so you could view them possibly as standing in the courtyard because of their proximity to the throne of God. They are martyrs who had gained victory over the beast, over his mark and over the number of his name. When Solomon had finished praying in 2 Chronicles chapter seven, verse two, the scripture says fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the temple and the priest could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the house. So the similarity between these chapters and the events that are taking place here seem to follow what happened with the Jerusalem temple that Solomon built and the things that Jeremiah said concerning its destruction when he spoke about this seething pot of the wrath of God that was about to break out on them from the Babylonians. Now, when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and praised the Lord saying, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Now, in stating that they could not enter the temple until the seven flags were fulfilled, that demonstrates to us that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. And it's not until God's wrath was completed that entrance into the temple, into the presence of God, the most holy place could be accomplished. When we look in Hebrews nine and verses eight and nine, which we should definitely compare with Revelation chapter 15 and verse eight, and this is obviously telling us that we had an already but not yet situation, but they had begun this trek into the presence of God, but they don't enter until the seven flags were finished. This wrath of God had been poured out. So in Hebrews nine and verse eight, the text in Luxor started verse seven. It says, but into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood. So when it says that he enters the second part, that's the most holy place. That's behind the second veil. And so he says he entered once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all, that is the most holy place, was not yet made manifest. And the literal rendering in Hebrews nine would be is not made manifest, because this was a present condition at the time that the book of Hebrews was written. And so the word was would be correct to say today, but at the time it was written, the word is, is correct. So he was actually saying the way into the holiest is not yet made manifest. And that was as late as AD 64, when Hebrews was written. Why? Because earlier in the book, notice that the writer said that the presence behind the veil was their hope that anchored the soul. Chapter six, verses 19 and 20 says, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Now you have those who will say when the veil of the temple was written at the time of Jesus' crucifixion, that meant that the way into the holiest was made manifest. No, that was not. That was symbolic of what would take place, but it wasn't the actual entrance into the most holy place. It wasn't the tearing of the true veil. It was representative in that case. The veil, as we are seeing here, the temple, the most holy place could not be entered until the seven angels brought the seven final flags. And until, and as long as the first tabernacle stood, because that temple didn't fall at the time the veil of the temple was written, that we see in Matthew chapter 27, that's not the time the temple fell. But the temple fell in 70 AD. That is when the wrath of God would be completed, and that is when access to the most holy place would have occurred. And therefore, the temple represents, that is the heavenly temple, the heavenly tabernacle, represents the presence of God. Moses was keenly aware that Canaan meant nothing without God's presence. Well, if he's saying that about Canaan, he has to be saying that about everything that was in Canaan, which would have included the old temple. When you go back to Exodus chapter 33, after Israel had sinned with the golden calf, and God had said he was going to destroy the entire nation, raise up a new nation for Moses to lead into the promised land. And it was at that time that Moses interceded on behalf of the children of Israel. He went before God and he offered a prayer. And God told him, he said, you know, in response, he said, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Now, this is a very, very significant statement. My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. What was Moses' response to that? Moses said to God, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. Moses was saying, I would rather stay in the wilderness where all the children of Israel are crying and groaning and complaining and desiring to go back to Egypt, et cetera. He says, I would rather stay here where the people think he brought us out here to die as long as your presence is here. What was he recognizing? He was recognizing that it's God's presence that is the true most holy place. That's the aim. It wasn't the physical land. And this is why Jesus said in John chapter four, that the time was coming and now is when you will neither worship God in this place, that is in Mount Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem. Will anyone worship? For God is seeking true worshipers and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. And he's speaking therefore of God himself as Revelation 21 and verse 22 says, I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. So Moses was keenly aware of this fact. And after all the struggles and the complaints and the risings up against him in the wilderness and the rebellion of the children of Israel, he said, God, if your presence doesn't go with us, do not take us out of this place. And so he understood very keenly the presence of God. And so he says, well, how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight, except you go with us. So we shall be separate, your people and I, from all people, all the people who are upon the face of the earth. And that's what made them different. It was the presence of God with them. And that's what makes people different today. It's the presence of God. And that's what we should seek in terms of our relationship with him. Now, Christ is the high priest of the heavenly tabernacle. Hebrews chapter eight, verses one and two. In that text it says, now, this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty of the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. So that's a contract between that old temple made with the hands of men and the true tabernacle, the house not made with hands, that was eternal in the heavens, the building of God that was about to come as the text tells us both in Hebrew, second Corinthians and elsewhere. So the angels are his ministers, Hebrews one and four. And sometimes we have to distinguish between the angels who are spirits as well as those who are men. But nevertheless, the Bible says, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? So clearly we can see the use of angels here. And then again, in first Peter 3.22, he says, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him. Now in chapter 14 and verse 10, the scripture talks about the wine of the wrath of God. It says he himself also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. And those of whom he speaks in verse 10 are referred to earlier when he says, these are the ones who worship the beast, who worshiped his image, who received his mark on their forehead and on their hands. And so he says, they will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of his holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. Now we will see more about the fire and brimstone in chapter 16 as well. We've talked about that from Isaiah chapter 34, where the Bible uses that and of course, that kind of takes us back to Sodom and Gomorrah as well, which the Bible says that Jerusalem was spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. But this represents the wine of the wrath of God that was being poured out on Israel in the last days. And at this time, the flags of the seven angels would be completed. And so he says, it's poured out in full strength. It's undiluted so as to take away any of its power to accomplish what God desires it to accomplish. In other words, it's without mercy at this point because they have rejected God. He has given them 40 years to repent. He's given them the prophets where they could have learned from their own history and then sent them the Lord Jesus Christ. He sent to them the apostles. He sent to them all the messengers of the New Testament and gave them the miraculous gifts. Everything that should have persuaded any normal person to accept God. Jesus even told them in John chapter 10, I think around verse either 34 through 37. He says, if you don't believe me, believe the works. These will demonstrate that God has sent me. But what did they do? They ascribed his miracles to the Prince of Beelzebub and just rejected him altogether in terms of these Jews who would not believe in him. And so it was poured out on those who worship and receive the mark of the beast and the image of his name. Revelation 16, 19 says that it was poured out on the city. The text says, now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. So this cup, this bowl of wrath is poured out on the city of Jerusalem that brought them to their end in 70 AD. Alluded to back in Revelation chapter 11 and verse two, where he tells them, do not measure the city for it is given to the, or the court that was without, for it is given to the Gentiles and they will tread it under foot 40 and two months. You can also parallel that with Luke chapter 21. Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21, verse 24. And of course, that was the time when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, by the Romans, where he said, these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. And so when this bowl of wrath is poured out, as we see in Revelation 16 and one, it says, then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, go and pour out the bowls of wrath on the earth. We have to see the earth here as representative of Palestine. This is what is indicated when he says pour it out on the earth. And that imagery as well is taken from the Exodus. When you look at the flags that were given during the time of the conflict between Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh, we have those 10 flags and one of which the sixth one were these boils of sores that were poured out on them. And it says, so the Lord said to Moses, this is Exodus chapter nine, beginning at verse eight. And Aaron, take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. And it became fine dust in all the land and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. Now look at verse two. It says, so the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. And so again, back to Exodus, it says, then they took the ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh and Moses scattered them toward heaven and they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not heed them just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. So you can see as Pharaoh represents the ruler of Egypt, these rulers of Jerusalem likewise would not heed the voice of the apostles and the saints. And so we have these curses pronounced upon them. In Deuteronomy 28 and verse 15, the text says, but it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever and with the sword, with scorching and with mildew, they shall pursue you until you perish. Now, we have a similar description of this. Let's see, Alan Morton, let's see what your question is. It says, is Romans 11.25, a reflection back to what Luke 24 said or are the Gentiles of Romans a different group? Romans 11.25. Give me one second to get over there, Alan, and just read the verse in the context. I think just based on my memory that we're talking about the same nations from that perspective. Romans 11.25, for I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, that you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. I believe that's the nations. And we have a text, for example, in the 17th chapter of the book of Acts, where it speaks of the fact that God had made in one blood all nations and the gospel was being presented to them. So we cannot limit the word nations to the Northern tribes. And I don't think that's what they refer to in Romans chapter 11, because that text seems to follow the same tone of Acts chapter 10, no, Acts chapter 15, when Peter spoke to the people and is referring back to what happened at the household of Cornelius and saying that God gave them the light gift as he did unto us. And therefore, he says, why test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which we ourselves were unable to bear. Well, I don't think he could be talking just about Judah, who was unable to bear that yoke, because clearly the Northern tribes didn't bear it, which caused them to be cast away in second Kings chapter 17. So I think it's a reference to the nations. And when Peter says, but we believe that we should be saved even as they, he was speaking of the salvation of those who would be saved without the law. And that's what I would understand from that particular text. Now, these sores, as we move to a close, and boils refer to the corporate body of Israel, to its political and spiritual condition. Sometimes it's very hard for us to think about Israel as a corporate body. I still get people who object and complain when we refer to the body of Moses in Jude one in verse nine, where the devil disputed with the archangel about the body of Moses. The only place you find that quote is in Zechariah three. And yet, when you mention it, people will say, well, you're just making that up. You know, there's nothing that says this comes out of Zechariah chapter three. No, no problem, Alan, that's fine. You know, we get the question. We try to do our best to answer them as we can. Now, the sores and boils, as we said, refer to the corporate body of Israel, its political and spiritual condition. So in Isaiah one five, when the text was speaking of this body of Israel, and let's just go there and read that, it says, why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. Watch, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate. What is he talking about? He's talking about Israel there, but calling them a body with a head, with a heart, with feet, soles of their feet, et cetera. And we shouldn't have a problem in seeing that Israel was the body of Moses, the old covenant body. He says, your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land and in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers, Isaiah one and verse seven. Josephus, as we close, likewise, spoke of this commotion, of this calamity, of these trials that would come upon Israel in their last days. He says, these harangues of John corrupted a great part of the young men and puffed them up for the war. But as to the more prudent part, and those in years, there was not a man of them, but foresaw what was coming. So there's a difference between the wisdom of the older generation and the unbridled, untempered zeal and ignorance of the younger generation. He says, but the old one foresaw what was coming and made lamentation on that account as if the city was already undone. And in this confusion were the people. But then it must be observed that the multitude that came out of the country were discord before the Jerusalem sedition began. For Titus went from Giskala to Cisades and Vespasian from Caesarea to Jamnia and Azotus and took them both. And when he had put garrisons into them, he came back with a great number of the people who were come over to him upon his giving them his right hand for their preservation. There were besides disorders and civil wars in every city. And all those that were at quiet from the Romans turned their hands one against the other. So these are the civil wars taking place in Jerusalem. This is a part of that commotion. This is why the body was sick. The whole head was sick down to the soles of his feet. Turning on itself, the body is now destroying itself is the point. There was also a bitter contest between those that were fond of war and those that were desirous for peace. So you've got these two groups working against each other. One group wants peace, the other group wants to destroy everything. And so at the first, this quarrelsome temper caught hold of private families who could not agree among themselves, after which those people that were the dearest to one another break through all restraints with regard to each other and everyone associated with those of his own opinion and began already to stand in opposition one to another so that seditions arose everywhere. While those that were for innovations and were desirous of war by their youth and boldness were too hard for the aids and prudent men. And in the first place, all the people of every place that took themselves to repine, after which they got together in bodies in order to rob the people of the country in so much that for barbarity and iniquity, those of the same nation did no way differ from the Romans. Nay, it seemed to be a much lighter thing to be ruined by the Romans than by themselves. And so here they are turning on themselves, consuming themselves. Remember Paul's statement, Paul told the church of Galatia to beware, lest as you bite and devour one another, you be consumed one of another. Well, that's exactly, he was warning the body of Christ from doing that, but that's exactly what happened with the body of Moses. Those who were rebellious against Christ, they turned on themselves with all of these calamities and civil wars among them, promotions, disturbances, and just overwhelmed the people who wanted peace and caused the ruin of the city worse than what the Romans did. And so just as the body of Christ is a corporate body and can be sick as the Bible says, if one member suffered, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. So that's corporate. That's the body of Christ. And he's admonishing us not to participate in such behaviors that will cause us to devour the body. The Jews ignored that and they destroyed themselves. So that bowl of wrath was poured out on them. And these sores were the political and spiritual commotions, the civil wars that came upon them in the first century. Well, that concludes our message for this morning. I wanna thank all of you for tuning in. Until next week, I am William Bell, and we will see you. You have a blessed day.