seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 15:1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.[a]
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”[b]
5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And 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 completed.
a. Revelation 15:3 Some manuscripts ages
b. Revelation 15:4 Phrases in this song are drawn from Psalm 111:2,3; Deut. 32:4; Jer. 10:7; Psalms 86:9; 98:2
This is the commentary from the easy English site.
What John saw next was great and wonderful. He saw in heaven 7 angels. These angels controlled the 7 last troubles that came upon the world. These will be times of awful trouble and pain, because God will be angry. God will be angry because people refused to accept his love. God will be angry because people became very wicked. And God will be angry because people worshipped the beast and his image instead of God.
This does not mean that God’s anger has finished. He still has to punish the devil. And he still has to throw the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire. But it does mean that this will be the final act of God’s anger on the earth.
These 7 troubles will be the last ones. When they have finished, Christ will return to the earth.
John again sees a glass sea (Revelation 4:6). This sea seems to be glass, but it glows like fire. It was a solid sea rather than like water. A large crowd stood on the sea.
The crowd was of all those who had defeated the beast and its image. They did not worship the beast. They did not have the mark of the beast. That mark was the number of the name of the beast. God gave to them harps in order to make music. They held these harps in their hands.
They sang a song of praise to God. They sang about the wonderful things that God had done. They sang the song that Moses had sung. It was a song about how God saved Israel from Egypt (Exodus 15:1-18). They sang about the way that the Lamb had saved them.
Then John saw the temple in heaven. In the temple was the most holy place. It was open and 7 angels came out of it. The angels came from God. They would bring the final awful troubles to the earth.
Each of the 7 angels received a gold bowl from one of the creatures. These bowls contained the 7 last troubles. In other words, each trouble would happen when the angels poured out each bowl. These troubles were the anger of God. This means that the troubles were the result of God’s anger.
As the angels received the bowls, smoke filled the temple. This smoke was from the glory and power of God. This smoke showed that God was present in his temple. Because of the smoke, nobody could enter the temple. Nobody could stop the awful troubles that God sent on the earth.
This is from enduringword.com.
Seven angels having the seven last plagues: This idea is also in Leviticus 26:21: Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. These seven last plagues are God’s judgment on a disobedient and contrary world.
For in them the wrath of God is complete: The ancient Greek word for wrath is thymos. As was the case in Revelation 14:10, there are two words for wrath or anger in Biblical Greek: thymos (a volatile, passionate anger) and orge (anger from a settled disposition). This is a place where God’s anger flashes hot.
Orge is the more common word for God’s anger in the New Testament. Thymos is used only 11 times, and 10 of the 11 are in Revelation. It is the book that reveals the judgment of God against a Jesus-rejecting world.
Is complete: The word complete (the ancient Greek word etelesthe) means, “to reach an end or an aim.” Here, the hot wrath of God will fulfill an eternal purpose. God isn’t just blowing off steam.
Having harps of God: The only people seen with harps before were the twenty-four elders (Revelation 5:8). These tribulation martyrs are given the blessing of worshipping God with music in heaven.
John is having another one of his cloud visions. His visions began with a vision of Jesus, when Jesus was glowing as He had when He met with Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration. John was invited to peek into Heaven in the vision. A strong Angel in Heaven was trying to open the scroll containing all the instructions for the final demise of the ignorant non-believing humans. Jesus took the scroll from the strong Angel, in the vision.... and the seals started to pop open for Jesus. Jesus had been a human.... He understood humans.... inside and out. He didn't just help sculpt the humans.... He became one... was begotten.
Every time a seal popped off the scroll.... something happened on earth. Out peace was stolen.... there were wars, famine, plagues, earthquakes, hail storms, and meteor showers. The earthquakes made the earth scream out.... mountains and islands had been moved. People were hiding but they were still cursing God... blaming God for everything that was happening.
During one of his visions, John was handed a little scroll to devour. John doesn't tell us what the little scroll is about.... it's a secret.
In these visions.... John then saw a woman who was running from a red dragon. According to the documentaries.... the woman is the Nation of Israel [the descendants of Jacob] and the Red Dragon.... is Satan... according to the commentary. In the vision... God has a hiding place for that woman... where she can have her baby [yep neglected to say the woman is also in labor in this vision]. So she is in hiding.... so Satan calls an Anti-Christ [first beast] and a False Prophet [second beast] out of the sea. According to the commentary.... this means Satan called up two humans [sea of humanity type sea] who are the Anti-Christ and a False Prophet.... so this is Satan's answer to God's son and John the Baptist [Jesus and the prophet who told people Jesus was coming]. Jesus told us there would be a lot of fake prophets.... this is just the last one.... the last fake preacher or priest.
Six of the Seven Seals have been popped open..... one left
Six Trumpets have been sounded.... one left
Two Woes have been accomplished..... one left
And now there are Seven Bowls to pour out.
Already, on earth, the air is almost impossible to breath. A third of the vegetation and all of the grass on earth has been destroyed.... so the air is full of noxious fumes that are no longer cleaned by the trees and bushes. There had to be a horrible stench.... a third of the population left on earth was slaughtered during the release of the four horsemen.... and another third was destroyed again in another popping of a seal. A third of the sea was had become a thick bloody goo of dead fish... and that must have stunk worse than a skunk. Animals are so hungry they are attacking humans. Crops can't grow... the air is noxious and the sun and moon have lost a third of their shine. The fresh water of the earth has been hit by wormwood and it's poisonous.... so there's no women waiting at the well anymore. There are bugs on earth with a bite that will make humans beg to die. There are strange horses that have stingers on their tails that will kill a human.
There's an angel flying over everyone proclaiming the Gospel. It's God's way of making sure everyone has a chance to step out in faith... without internet or nightly news. This low flying, Gospel preaching angel doesn't require electricity.... and everyone will know... guaranteed.... naturally.
And now there are Seven Bowls to pour out.
There are humans in Heaven at this point. There are 144,000 blameless, virgin men.... descendants of Jacob, hand picked and sealed on the forehead by God. These descendants of Jacob all Believe that Jesus is the Messiah. There are humans under the altar. These are the martyrs like Stephen, the disciple who was beat to death for his faith while Saul of Tarsus, who later became the apostle Paul, held the coats of those who beat him to death. The martyrs keep asking "how much longer till the revenge?". And there are so many other humans that they can't be counted. They are the rest of the humans who Believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
On earth.... there are those who have been tattooed on their right arm or their forehead with a 666 or the name of Satan. There are those who refused to take the mark. the people with that mark worship the Anti-Christ, refusing to worship God. In this chapter.... those who have refused to buy the crap the Anti-Christ and the False Prophets are spewing.... are rescued as well... and they are given harps to play...... ugh.
When I was young and contemplating Heaven.... I have to admit... it wasn't all that appealing to me. I'm not a musician... so the idea of lazing around playing a harp 24/7 just doesn't appeal to me. I'm happy to see that by choosing early to Believe that Jesus is the Messiah who gave His life for me, I not only secured my spot in Heaven... I don't have to play the harp all the time. I'll be part of the multitude that no one can count.... but I won't have to hang on to a harp.
So.... according to Revelation 15..... all the Believers are now safe in Heaven. The only humans on earth are those who refuse to Believe that Jesus is the Christ who gave His life for their sins.
One woe to go.
One trumpet to sound.
One seal to pop.
But first...... there are Seven Bowls to pour out.
