Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Revelation 19:15-21

15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
17And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."
19Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.



19:15 - Out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, comes a sharp sword. John has already used this symbol (Rev. 1:16; 2:16); the sword, particularly when it comes from the mouth is a biblical symbol for the prophetic Word of God. The Word is is used in battle to defeat God's enemies (Eph. 6:17), but also in the life of the Christian, for our lives are sacrifices to God (Rom. 12:1-2), and the Word of God is the instrument that Christ, our holy priest, uses to cut apart the sacrifice (Heb. 4:12-13) (See Isa. 49:1-2 and Hos. 6:5 for Old Testament equivalents to this). This helps us to see that this is not Christ's Second Coming, but is His the conquest of the nations by His word, as he promised in Matt. 24:29-31, when He said that after the destruction of Jerusalem, he would send his angel/ messengers to gather the elect. Once He conquers the nations, He will rule them with an iron scepter. This is always the order of the gospel: One must submit in obedience to the rule of Christ and then He will reign as the Lord of their life. This rule is the possession of the promise of Ps. 2:8-9, Dan. 7:13-14 for all things have been placed under His feet (Eph. 1:22). In His role as universal King, He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty (cf. Isa. 63:1-6; Rev. 14:19-20). The passage from Isa. 63 confirms that although Christ is accompanied by His armies, it is He alone that has achieved His victory.
19:16 - We finally are told the name that no one knows, or owns, except Christ, Himself: King of kings and Lord of lords. This is truly His title as He sets out to conquer the world with the Word of the gospel. This is assurance of the hope that one day the gospel can conquer the world. The message to the church throughout the Revelation has been to overcome (Rev. 2:7, 11, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21), now the Church is assured that despite the fierce persecution, they will be victorious over all enemies.

19:17-18 - This is the second of the final seven visions. John has already described the wedding supper of the Lamb, but now he tells us of a second great feast. He sees an angel standing in the sun (see Mal. 4:2) who cried in a loud voice to all the bird flying in midair. They have been invited to gather together for the great super of God. What is this great feast? They are to partake of the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great. David Chilton, author of Days of Vengeance, says "a basic curse of the covenant is that of being eaten by birds of prey (cf. Detu. 28:26, 49). Israel is now a sacrificial corpse (Matt. 24:28), and there is no longer anyone who can drive away the scavengers (cf. Gen. 15:11; Deut. 28:26)." John's language here comes from God's invitation, through Ezekiel, for the animals to eat up the corpses of His enemies (Ezek. 39:17-20). The meaning cannot be missed: The nations that refuse the lordship of Christ, as Psalm 2 declares, will be destroyed.

19:19-21 - The third vision begins as John sees the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. They could not prevail, however, as the Beast and the false prophet are defeated and were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The imagery here comes from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19) as well as from the account of the rebellious Korah (Num. 16:31-33). The point John is likely making here is not so much a personal eschatology of the Beast and False Prophet, for they are more symbolic characters, nor is he predicting the exact date of their downfall. His point is to demonstrate the complete destruction and defeat of God's enemies as they are thrown into Gehenna, the place that was made for Satan and his angels (Matt. 25:41). The followers of the Beast were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse. The nations will be conquered by the Word of God. Thus, insult is added to the injury of the Beast. Not only is he defeated, but those who led in battle against, God will eventually will be converted by the gospel.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Revelation 19:9-14

9Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God."
10At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

The Rider on the White Horse
11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.



19:9 - The angel gives the fourth beatitude in the Revelation: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. This phrase invokes two central themes to the Christian life. One is that of marriage: Jesus often referred to himself as the bridegroom (Matt. 25:10; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; cf. 3:28-29); and the New Testament image of the Church being the Bride of Christ is prevalent throughout the Scriptures in various allusions. The second is that of the communion meal. The heart of the Christian worship was and still should be the sacrament of communion (1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:20-34; Acts 20:7). The greatest event in the Christian community is the weekly participation in the communion meal, the wedding supper of the Lamb. The truth of this statement is verified by the highest standard possible, the vow that these are the true words of God.

19:10 - At realizing the great privilege of taking part in the wedding supper, and that this was given as the very words of God, John fell at the angel’s feet to worship him. John is told, do not do it (this incident will be repeated in 22:8-9). The angel reminds him that I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. The word translated ‘worship’ here, proskuneo, can also mean the proper reverence due to superiors. It is likely that this is the aspect of the word that John intended; he was not bowing to worship the angel as a deity. All Christians under the New Covenant have ascended into the Lord’s presence so it is no longer appropriate (as it once was to view angels as superior). They are fellow servants. Thus, the angel urges John to Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. He is telling John to come to the Throne of God with confidence (Heb. 4:16).

19:11 - Verse 11 begins a section of seven visions, each beginning with the phrase I saw. He again is allowed to see into the realm of heaven, as he beholds a white horse. The white horse is a symbol of Christ’s victory and dominion (Rev. 6:2). David Chilton, in Days of Vengeance, says "It is important for the proper understanding of this passage to note that the [rider on the white horse] is called Faithful and True: Christ rides forth to victory in His character as the ‘faithful and true Witness’ (3:14), as the ‘Word of God’ (19:13). St. John is not describing the Second Coming at the end of the world. He is describing the progress of the Gospel throughout the world, the universal proclamation of the message of salvation, which follows the First Advent of Christ." With Justice he judges and makes war. This is a fulfillment of many Messianic prophecies (Ps. 72:2; 96:11-13; Jer. 23:5-6).

19:12 - The rider on the white horse is the same as the Son of Man (Rev. 1:14), as he is also described as having eyes that are like blazing fire. We also know that this rider is victorious already, for on his head are many crowns. We are also told that He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. The use of the Greek word for know here is probably influenced by an extremely common Hebrew idiom in which the verb to know takes on the meaning to acknowledge as one’s own (Meredith G Kline, Images of the Spirit). The point of the verse is not that no one can know what the name is, rather it belongs to Him alone. That we can know the name will become clearer in the chiastic pattern (A, B, C, C, B, A) of this passage: A) Name no one knows (12b); B) Robe dipped in blood (13a); C) His name is called the Word of God (13b); C) Two-edged sword from his mouth (15a); B) He treads the wine-press of God’s wrath; A) He has a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (16).

19:13 - That Christ is dressed in a robe dipped in blood is explained in verse 15, which tells us that the blood comes from the enemies of God. There is a sense, however, that the blood also brings forth images of Christ’s own blood and sacrifice on the Cross, for John tells us that his name is the Word of God, which references John 1:1, 14, and the Incarnation as a whole.

19:14 - The armies in heaven were following him. These are the chosen and faithful that are with Him in battle (Rev. 17:14). From the perspective of the New Testament, the Church is in heaven (Eph. 2;6; Hebrews 12:22-23; Rev. 7:15; 12:12; 13:6). The army of Christians (and possibly angels are in view here as well) are riding on white horses and are dressed in fine linen, white and clean. This again stresses the righteousness of the saints from a biblical perspective.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Revelation 19:1-8

Hallelujah!
1After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
"Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants." 3And again they shouted:
"Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."
4The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
"Amen, Hallelujah!"
5Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
"Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both small and great!"
6Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)



19:1-2 - A careful reading of 18:24-19:6 will show the extreme similarities between this section and 11:15-19, which is the announcement of the Kingdom and the heavenly Temple to the whole world in the New Covenant. As this section is introducing the appearance of the Bride, it is clear that in John’s mind there is an equivalent between the opening of the Temple and the full establishment of the New Covenant.

The great multitude is in heaven shouting: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgments. The Church had prayed for Jerusalem’s destruction (Rev. 6:9-11) and now those prayers have been answered. Prophecies were intended for strengthening, encouragement and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3), and John’s readers were commanded to listen to this prophecy and take it to heart (Rev. 1:3). In describing the heavenly Church’s prayers against her enemies, John was rallying the saints on earth to do the same. Now that Jerusalem’s immanent doom has been guaranteed, John instructs the Church to worship and glorify God, not to mourn. In handing down His judgments, God has truly shown that His actions are righteous. Israel’s destruction is actually God’s righteousness on display in the physical world. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of His servants. This is yet another symbolic connection between the great prostitute and Jezebel, the queen who had led Israel from the worship of God. God had ordered Elisha to instruct Jehu to take down Jezebel, saying: "I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD's servants shed by Jezebel" (2 Ki. 9:22).

19:3 - The second refrain of the celebration song begins here as again, they shout Hallelujah! The cause for the praise is, again, the destruction of Jerusalem. The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever. This expression has been used three times before (Rev. 14:11; 18:2, 9) and is based on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The specific wording, however, comes from Isaiah’s description of the punishment of Edom (Isa. 34:10). It is no accident that John borrows quite liberally from both Old Testament denunciations of Israel, but also equally borrows from oracles against pagan nations. The point is that Jerusalem, once the covenantal people of God, had now become one of the very enemies of God.

19:4 - Present during this chorus are the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures. As discussed in 4:4-11, the twenty-four elders represent the Church, while the four living creatures symbolize all the earthly creation. We are told that they fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. There is always a connection in biblical worship between proper praise of God and a physical activity that is appropriate to the godly fear and reverence that should be shown to the most high God. This is perhaps a point that we should pay attention to, as we live in a time when worship has become casual to the point of being irreverent.

19:5 - An unnamed voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small." This command is given to the Church, the servants of God, who are continuing in their praise of God for His righteous act of the destruction of Jerusalem.

19:6-8 - We should not miss that the great multitude, the entire Church, speaks with the characteristic voice of the glory cloud: the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder. This confirms their identity as people that are in the glorious image of God. The crowd has praised God for His sovereignty, displayed in the destruction of Jerusalem. Now they praise Him for His wedding of the Lamb, for which the time time has come. The New Testament is full of exhortations to the Church to prepare herself as the glorious bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-27; Jude 3, 24, etc.), but now John sees the Church in her glory and purity, having met her trials, and passed through the treat tribulations into her possession of the Kingdom as the Bride of Christ. The destruction of Jerusalem signified the Church’s full establishment as the new Temple, the faithful Bride. The bride has made herself ready, and fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. Linen has already been used frequently as a symbol (Rev. 15:6; cf. 3:4; 4:4; 7:9, 14), now John explicitly states that the linen symbolizes the righteous acts of the saints. Two important points are seen here about the sanctification of the Church. First it was given to her, as sanctification always is. Yet, second, she was still expected to make herself ready. This same concept is consistent throughout Scripture (Lev. 20:7-8; Phil. 2:12-13).

Friday, February 23, 2007

Revelation 18:20-24

20Rejoice over her, O heaven!
Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets!
God has judged her for the way she treated you.' "
21Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
"With such violence
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
22The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.
No workman of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world's great men.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints,
and of all who have been killed on the earth."



18:20 - As we saw yesterday, the mourners over the fate of Jerusalem were split into three groups. There is, however, a fourth response. The Saints, and apostles and prophets are told to rejoice over her. The Church, tabernacling in heaven had prayed for the destruction of the apostate city that led the world in rebellion of God and persecution of His children. Jesus had promised that the Holy Mountain would be thrown into the Sea if they had enough faith and now it was on the verge of taking place (Matt. 21:21; Mark 11:23). They have prayed and God has judged her for the way she treated you. Their destruction and removal as the Covenant people of God was the just retribution for the way that Israel had rebelled against God, rejected Christ, and persecuted His Church.

18:21 - As mentioned previously, Jesus had told his disciples to pray for the mountain of Jerusalem to be cast into the sea. He had also warned that it would be better for one who hindered the little ones from the gospel to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around their neck. Using similar language, we are told symbolically that a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea. The millstone was a common symbol in the ancient world for productivity. Jerusalem’s labor has been in vain, in contrast to the Church (1 Cor. 15:58). The image here also comes from Old Testament descriptions of the Red Sea (Ex. 15:3-5, 10; Neh. 9:9-11). Perhaps the primary source of the symbol, though, comes from Jer. 51:61-64). Jeremiah’s messenger reads the prophecy of Babylon’s destruction, then ties it to a stone and throws it into the Euphrates declaring that it will sink and not rise again. Applying those words to the great prostitute, the angel says with such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.

The obvious question is how was this fulfilled in 70 AD? Jerusalem appears to be alive and well to this day. Prophecy is covenantally and ethically oriented. Jerusalem was not destroyed forever in a physical sense any more than Babylon, Edom, or Egypt were destroyed forever, even though that was prophesied. Consider Isaiah’s prophecy against Edom in Isa. 34:9-10 as an example: "Edom's streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again." Of course, in literal terms this did not happen, but the prophecy was fulfilled in terms of its actual meaning and intent. The territory of Edom still has tree, flowers, crops, and rivers, but Edom was to be stricken primarily as a people, not as a land. From this perspective, the prophecy has come true. Edom, as an enemy of God and His people, has vanished forever. This ‘forever’ destruction of Jerusalem, then, means that they will forever cease to be the Covenant people of God. The old, apostate Jerusalem has been replaced by the Bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem. There will be no salvation and no Covenant outside of the Church.

18:22-23 - Israel’s covenantal status has been removed and so has the blessing of the Covenant. These will be taken away forever, alluding to both Jeremiah’s prophecies against the rebellious Jerusalem of his time (Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; cf. Isa. 24:7-12) and to Ezekiel’s prophecy against the king of Tyre (Ezek. 28:11-19). The doom is pronounced in five parts: 1) The loss of the music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpets. There will be no more joy or celebration in the city. 2) The productivity of the land will be gone symbolized by the workman of any trade. 3) It would be the end of prosperity, which was symbolized in the ancient world by the millstone. There was a second meaning for the mill for Jews. The mill was the threshing floor, which is what the Temple land was before the structure was built there. Therefore, both prosperity and the Temple would be gone from Israel. 4) The light of a lamp will be gone. Israel would suffer the loss of God’s word and the wisdom that comes from it, as well as they would no longer be the light of the world. 5) The final symbol is the most encompassing and devastating: the prostitute had been cast out as the Bride and replaced by another so the voice of bridegroom and bride would never be heard again. Israel has been judged on two accounts. The first is that her merchants were the world’s great men, but had taken to trading men’s souls, leading them into apostasy. The second is that all the nations were led astray by their magic spell.

18:24 - As if we needed any other clues to the identity of the prostitute, the great city, John gives us the final piece. In her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth. This is an obvious allusion to Christ’s words in his denunciation of Jerusalem in Matt. 23:34-37. This language could not be used of Rome or any city other than Jerusalem, as this was a constant charge against Jerusalem (Acts 7:51-52; Luke 13:33-34.

Revelation 18:9-19

9"When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
" 'Woe! Woe, O great city,
O Babylon, city of power!
In one hour your doom has come!'
11"The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
14"They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.' 15The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16and cry out:
" 'Woe! Woe, O great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'
"Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?' 19They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!



18:9 - We will be told of three groups of people that will mourn the destruction of Jerusalem. The first is that of the kings of the earth, these are the same people that joined in with the Covenant people in their apostasy, and their destruction is a fearful sign to them of God’s judgment. They see the smoke of her burning, a symbol borrowed from the description of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:28) and the fall of Edom (Isa. 34:10), and are reminded that a similar fate for them might not be long in coming. And well they should as God had told Jeremiah that the nations of the earth would taste from His cup of wrath (Jer. 25:28-29). The lament of each group ends with the words woe, woe, O great city. This may have taken special significance for readers familiar with Jerusalem before her destruction. Josephus, in The Jewish Wars, wrote of a man called the son of Ananias who stood in the Temple courts beginning in 62 AD (when all was still prosperous and well) preaching and crying "woe, woe to Jerusalem."

18:11-17a - The second groups of mourners is that of the merchants. The wealth of Jerusalem was a direct result of the blessings that were part of the Covenant (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). God had blessed her with great wealth to demonstrate that they were His people, but she had abused that gift. A great deal could be said about the list of items (which are similar to a list in Ezek. 27:12-24 in a prophecy against Tyre), but suffice it to say that the list probably reflects the Temple and the commerce that surrounded it. Ancient sources confirm that Jerusalem had become a major hub in importing and exporting goods to and from the Roman world. What is perhaps the most shocking is the last line of this list: and souls of men. This phrase is borrowed from the description of Tyre’s slave traffic in Ezek. 27:13, but is applied to Jerusalem’s spiritual corruption of men’s souls. Paul used a similar allusion in contrasting the earthly, apostate Jerusalem with the heavenly City of God: "The present city of Jerusalem . . . . is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother" (Gal. 4:25-26). Rather than being the light of the world, Jerusalem had prostituted herself and led them into bondage to the Dragon.

By engaging in this apostasy, the fruit that Jerusalem had longed for is gone. The blessings of the Covenant that they had long desired had been forfeited by listening to the Serpent. Israel, like Adam and Eve, had failed as the representative of mankind and would now be barred from the Tree of Life; they would also forfeit their physical riches and splendor.

The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from Jerusalem are powerless to do anything more than stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will realize that the source of their great wealth will never be the same. They will weep and mourn and cry out for their partner in apostasy, the woman who was so seductive and beautiful in her fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. The description of the clothes confirm the identity of the city as Jerusalem, dressed in the glory of the Temple and the linen of the Bride (Rev. 19:8). Those who had partnered and profited from the prostitute city, will be amazed at the suddenness of her fall: In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin! This destruction that is being described is the promised desolation of Jerusalem (Matt. 23:38; 24:15, etc.). Like the previous use of day, the term hour is not a literal reference, but describes the unexpected suddenness of the destruction. John also uses the term hour quite often when referring to a particularly critical time (John 2:4; 5:25, 28; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 17:1; 1 John 2:18).
17b- 19 - The third group of mourner is the sea captains, those who travel by ship, sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea. John has already stressed the economic ruin brought by Jerusalem’s destruction, so although this class of people emphasizes that aspect, it likely also points to the nations of the world, symbolized by the people of the sea (He has already said that the many waters represents all the people of the earth). This also alludes to Ps. 107:23-32, where those in the ships are instructed in the ways of the Lord and give thanks to Him for His "unfailing love." Proclaiming God’s unfailing love was to be the purpose of Israel, but she had abandoned that vocation.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Revelation 18:1-8

1After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2With a mighty voice he shouted:
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
3For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."
4Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
"Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
5for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
7Give her as much torture and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
'I sit as queen; I am not a widow,
and I will never mourn.'
8Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.



18:1 - John sees another angel coming down from heaven, but the description indicates that we should view this messenger (the literal meaning of the word translated ‘angel’) as Jesus, Himself, as it so closely parallels John’s descriptions of Jesus in other places. He comes down from heaven (John 3:13, 31; 6:38, 58), has great authority (John 5:27; 10:18; 17:2), and the earth was illuminated by His splendor (John 1:4-5, 9, 14; 8:12; 9:5; 11:9; 12:46).

18:2 - The message given here is consistent (Rev. 14:8) and echoes the funeral dirge given by Amos against Israel in Amos 5:2. Jerusalem has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. These are both ways of saying that she had become unclean, as the word translated ‘evil’ is literally ‘unclean’. We shall see that this is in contrast to the New Jerusalem in 21:27, in which nothing unclean will ever enter into it.
18:3 - Israel was to have been the light to the world, but had become a perversion of the calling as the teacher-priest of the world. This was the reason for her destruction (cf. Rev. 14:8; 17:2, 4). All the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries that she had committed with the kings and the merchants of the world. The emphasis given to merchants is probably related to the commercial activities that had come to surround the Temple, whose corruption affected the spiritual life of the entire nation. The Temple was the core of life for Israel and if the core is rotten, the fruit is worthless.

18:4-5 - Another voice calls to come out of her my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues (cf. Heb. 10:19-39; 12:15-29; 13:10-14); for her sins are piled up to heaven (cf. Gen. 19:13; 2 Chron. 28:9; Ezra 9:6; Jer. 51:9; Jon 1:2). This was a large part of the message to the early church, the call to separate from the old, corrupt ways and align themselves with the Church (cf. Acts 2:37-40; 3:19-26; 4:8-12; 5:27-32). The Jews had tasted of the age to come but had fallen away. It would be impossible to turn back to the old ways and still receive forgiveness (Heb. 6:4-8). Salvation could only come through Christ and the Church. The sins of this generation had piled up and filled the measure of guilt, as Jesus had said (Matt. 23:32-35). The persecutors were about to suffer destruction at God’s hands, the Church’s redemption was almost at hand (Luke 21:28, 31), and the new Temple was about to be fully established.

18:6-8 - Christ, as the righteous judge, demands full restitution: Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup (cf. Jer. 50:15, 29; Ps. 137:8; Isa. 40:2). Restitution of double was the normal biblical standard (Ex. 22:4, 7).

This torture and grief will equal the amount of glory and luxury she gave herself. The reason is her pride and self-exaltation: In her heart she boasts, I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn. This text is based on God’s judgment against Babylon (Isa. 47:6-11) for her treatment of the Covenant people. Israel had committed the same crime that Eve had in committing fornication with the Dragon and contradicting God’s words that He "is the Lord; and there is no Savior besides Me" (Isa. 43:11). Because of this, therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her; death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. The Day of the Lord would come upon Israel, bringing her destruction quickly (1 Thess. 5:2-3). The term ‘day" does not indicate a specific duration of time, but rather, indicates the relative suddenness of the judgment.

Revelation 17:15-18

15Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."



17:15 - Now the angel explains the primary significance to the symbolism of the woman sitting on the waters. The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, in multitudes, nations, and languages. It is put in terms of a fourfold description, thus signifying the entire world. Identifying the pagan, ungodly nations with the waters or that sea is a familiar concept in the Bible. (See Isa. 17:12-13; Isa. 57:20-21; Rev. 13:1 for a few examples). Jerusalem could be described as sitting on "many waters" because of the great influence that Jews had in all parts of the Roman Empire before 70 AD. The spread of Jews can be seen at the day of Pentecost when Jews from every nation came back to Jerusalem (Acts 2:5). By 70 AD their was a synagogue in nearly every city in the Roman Empire.

17:16 - In their war against God, the enraged nations will turn against Jerusalem because of her self-proclaimed connections with Him. The description of their hatred toward the Prostitute is, again, in a fourfold description: The Beast and her allies will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire (cf. Jer. 13:26; Lam. 1:8-9; nah. 3:5). Bring her to ruin is actually a word that means ‘desolation’ and is the same word Jesus used in Matt. 24:15, Mark 13:14, and Luke 21:20, connecting it to Daniel’s abomination of desolation in Dan. 9:26-27. One of the common punishments for a convicted adulteress in the ancient world was to be stripped naked (cf. Isa. 47:2-3; Jer. 13:26; Lam. 1:8; Ezek. 16:37, 39; 23:29; Hos. 2:10; Nah. 3:5). Another connection is made with Jezebel as it is said that the Empire will eat her flesh, just as the dogs had eaten the flesh of the original Jezebel (1 Ki. 21:23-24; 2 Ki. 9:30-37). Just as the Old Testament called for a priest’s daughter that became a prostitute to be burned (Lev. 21:9), so would God’s kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6) turned prostitute would be burned to the ground (Jer. 4:11-13, 30-31; Ezek. 16:37-41; 23:22, 25-30). In The Parousia, J. Stuart Russell notes, "Tacitus speaks of the bitter animosity with which the Arab auxiliaries of Titus were filled against the Jews, and we have a fearful proof of the intense hatred towards the Jews by the neighbouring nations in the wholesale massacres of that unhappy people perpetrated in many great cities just before the outbreak of the war. The whole Jewish population of Caesarea were massacred in one day. In Syria every city was divided into two camps, Jews and Syrians. In Scythopolis upwards of thirteen thousand Jews were butchered; in Ascalon, Ptolemais, and Tyre, similar atrocities took place,. But in Alexandria the carnage of the Jewish inhabitants exceeded all the other massacres. . . Fifty thousand corpses lay in ghastly heaps in the streets." Truly the Beast and the ten horns. . . . will hate the prostitute.

We should realize that the Beast destroyed Jerusalem as part of the war against Christ. They not only wanted to end the Jewish rebellion but to put an end to Christianity. Sulpitius Severus writes that the Roman General "Titus himself thought that the temple ought specially to be overthrown, in order that the religion of the Jews and of the Christians might more thoroughly be subverted; for that these religions, although contrary to each other, had nevertheless proceeded from the same authors; that the Christians had sprung up from among the Jews; and that, if the root were extirpated, the offshoot would speedily perish." The Beast, inspired by the Dragon, thought it could get rid of the prostitute and the Bride of Christ in one fell swoop. Instead, Jerusalem would lay in ruins and the Church was revealed as the new and glorious Temple of God.

17:17 - For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by giving the Beast power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled. These nations thought they were acting on their own behalf, but the reality of the situation was they were merely the instruments that God used to enact the curses of the Covenant (Deut.) on the Covenant-breakers.

17:18 - The angel now confirms that the woman, the prostitute, is the great city, a term that John has already used for Jerusalem, the city where Jesus was crucified. This is the city that rules over the kings of the earth. This verse has confused many into supposing that the woman is Rome (this of course doesn’t make much sense of verses like v. 16). How can it be said that Jerusalem held such worldwide political power? The answer is simple. Revelation is not about political power, but about Covenant. Jerusalem did reign over the nations; she was to be the Kingdom above all kingdoms, the Kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6) that interceded on behalf of the world. The destruction of the prostitute was the final sign that this Kingdom had been transferred to God’s new people, the Church (Matt. 21:43; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 11:19; 15:5; 21:3).

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Revelation 17:8-14

8The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.
9"This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. 11The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
12"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."



17:8 - The Beast that is described, is now a composite between the Sea Beast and the Dragon. Milton Terry, in Biblical Apocalyptics, says that the differing descriptions are due to the "different and successive manifestations of Satan himself. . . . Hence we understand by the beast that was and is not an enigmatical portraiture of the great red dragon of 12:3. He is the king of the Abyss in 9:11, and the beast that killed the witnesses in 11:7. He appears for a time in the person of some great persecutor, or in the form of some huge iniquity, but is after a while cast out. Then he again finds some other organ for his operations and enters it. . . . " The Dragon is constantly on the prowl looking for an open conduit to work though. The angel says that the Beast once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss. This is a clear parody of "Him who is, who was, and who is to come" (Rev. 1:4). Christians looked to Christ’s resurrection as their hope, but those who follow the Beast will look to him rising up from the Abyss for their security.

It is likely that the specific human manifestation of the Beast at this point is Vespasian, who became Caesar after the chaos that followed the death of Nero. Vespasian ‘was’ in favor with Nero, and ‘is not’ (he fell from favor and power), and ‘will come up out of the Abyss’ (he was restored and came to be Caesar). In a sense Rome passed through the same stages, as it was with Nero, was not, as they suffered chaos and four emperors in one year, and came up out of the Abyss with Vespasian at the helm. Although the Christians needed to be awake because the Beast would be strong again for a time, they could be assured that he would ultimately go to his destruction. But before that happens, the Beast will be successful in carrying off Israel with him. They are the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life. They have forfeited their status as the people of God and have been replaced by the New Covenant children of God.

17:9-10 - To fully understand the wiles and identity of the Beast calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. This clearly identifies Rome as the Beast, famous for its "seven hills," but there is also a correspondence to the line of Caesars, because they are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. The first five Caesars were Julius (who was not technically the first emperor but was for all practical and theological purposes), Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. One is: Nero was the sixth Caesar and was on the throne, presumably as John was writing this. Galba, the seventh Caesar, was in power for less than seven months.

17:11 - The chaos that will follow Nero should not be interpreted by Christians as the end of the Empire and the cessation of their troubles. The real enemy is the Beast who will rise in the Empire again through other willing conduits. He is also an eighth king. He belongs to the seven. This is significant because eight is the biblical number of resurrection. John is warning his readers that even Rome might seem to be crumbling after the rule of seven kings, it will be ‘resurrected’ again to continue its persecution of the Church. Despite this ‘resurrection’, though, even the eighth king, Vespasian will go to his destruction, as will all enemies of God.

17:12 - Now the angel says clearly that the ten horns you saw are ten kings. The number ten in the Bible is associated with numerical fullness, or the concept of many. These ten kings are associated with the Beast and will receive authority as kings along with the Beast. Although the thrust of the symbol is to represent the totality of those allied and subject to Rome in its wars on both Judaism and Christianity, it is also true that Rome actually had ten imperial provinces at the time. The primary point here is that these kings, with whom the prostitute has laid down, will be the cause of her eventual destruction.

17:13-14 - These ten kings have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the Beast. That one purpose will be to make war against the Lamb Making war with God is always the ultimate goal of rebellious mankind, that will manifest itself in many different ways (cf. Ps. 2:2; Acts 2:26). Just as the Pharisees and the Herodians joined together against Christ, and Pilate and Herod became friends in their work against Jesus, so the enemies of God will often come together to do war against Him. No matter, however, for their ultimate fate is sealed: The Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Revelation 17:1-7

The Woman and the Beast
1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."
3Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5This title was written on her forehead:
MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.



17:1-2 - The vision of the seven angels continues in chapter 17. One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came to John and shows him the fall of the great prostitute. John has already told his readers about a harlot-city named Babylon the great (Rev. 14:8; 16:19). The resemblance of the prostitute to the original Babylon is emphasized by the fact that she is sitting on many waters, an image borrowed from Jeremiah’s description of Babylon in his declaration of judgment against her (Jer. 51:13). The term ultimately refers to the many blessings that God had given to Babylon, which she had prostituted for her own glory. John will give us further symbolic meaning to this phrase later in verse 15. The prostitute city has committed adultery with the inhabitants of the earth. This wording is taken from Isaiah’s prophecy against Tyre, where it primarily refers to her international commerce (Isa. 23:15-17). There are a few other examples of a pagan nation being accused of prostitution, most often, however, it is a charge leveled against Israel (Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2:20-24, 30-33; 3:1-3; Hos. 9:1).

This theme of harlotry is even more prominent in Ezekiel where Israel is charged with religious-political alliances with powerful Gentile kingdoms (Ezek. 16:26-29). God, through Ezekiel, charges Israel of adultery using language so graphic and shocking that most modern pastors wouldn’t dare to preach from these passages. Ezekiel accuses Israel of spreading her legs to ever passerby (Ezek. 16:25). He says that Israel lusts after the Egyptians, whose sex organs are the size of a donkey and who have the ability to produce semen in amounts that rivals horses (Ezek. 16:26; 23:30). She is so eager, says Ezekiel to commit adultery, that she is willing to pay strangers rather than the other way around (Ezek. 16:33-34). This same attitude of adultery was still evident in first-century Israel. The apostasy of Jerusalem led the whole nation into religious and political fornication as the inhabitants of the earth (Israel; see 3:10) were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

17:3 - Earlier, the woman that represented the Church went into the wilderness, but that was out of necessity and for a short time. In contrast, this woman is sitting in the desert, apparently in her element, as the wilderness is a sign of the curse, symbolically the habitation of demons (Matt. 12:43). She would prefer to say in the wilderness rather than follow the Spirit into the promised land. The wilderness is her destiny (cf. Num. 13-14; Zech. 5:5-11). She is sitting on a scarlet beast that has characteristics of both the Sea Beast, as it is full of blasphemous names (13:1), and the Dragon, as it has seven heads and ten horns (12:3). The most likely solution to this combined imagery is that John meant to depict Israel’s harlotry with both Satan and the Roman Empire. This is further support that the woman, the great harlot-city, is not Rome, because she is seen distinct here from the Beast that represents Rome.

17:4 - The woman is dressed in purple and scarlet, like royalty (Jud. 8:26; 2 Sam. 1:24; Dan. 5:7, 16, 29); She was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls like the glorious city of God (Isa. 54:11-12; 60:5-11; Rev. 21:18-21) and the garments of the high priest (Ex. 28:9-29) and the Throne of God (Rev. 4:3-4). These are not the clothes of a prostitute, these are originally the clothes of a righteous woman who was arrayed in glorious dress (cf. Ex. 3:22; Ezek. 16:11-14; Prov. 31:21-22). She is wearing the clothes of the people of God but has denigrated them with her adulterous behavior. She even takes a communion of sorts from a cup filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

17:5 - In a familiar fashion in this book, The prostitute also has a name written on her forehead. She was called to be the true Babylon the Great, the gate of God, but has instead rejected God and become the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. That her title begins with Mystery, which demonstrates further evidence that she is Jerusalem, the city which formed an integral party of the mystery of salvation which brought together Jews with the Gentiles.

17:6-7 - John tells us what the woman had in the cup: she was drunk with the blood of the saints. This is the ultimate unclean food (Lev. 17:10-14). While Rome did become a great persecutor of the church, we must remember that this came about only at the instigation of the Jews. Jerusalem’s whole history was engaged in persecution of the godly, especially the prophets (Matt. 21:33-44; 23:29-35; acts 7:51-53). The word astonished actually says "wondered with great admiration." The point John is making that is lost in the NIV translation is that John sees that the prostitute is extremely attractive as most prostitutes are. The angel wonders why John, and his readers might be so attracted to this whore. In order that they will not be fooled by her, John will now reveal the true nature of the prostitute and the Beast.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Revelation 16:15-21

15"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.



16:15 - The account of the seven bowls is suddenly interrupted with a declaration of the central theme of the book of Revelation: Behold, I come like a thief! It is really the summation of Christ’s message to the seven Churches. The coming of the Roman empire will be, in truth, Christ’s coming in his wrath against his enemies. The specific wording here is based on the words from the letter to the Church in Sardis as well as other words of Jesus (Rev. 3:3; Matt. 24:42-44; Luke 12:35-40; cf. 1 Thess. 5:1-11). That letter also praises those who have not soiled their clothes but promises that the one who overcomes will wear white clothes. In a similar vein, we are told: Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that they may not go naked and be shamefully exposed. The imagery here comes from the Temple. There was an officer whose duty was to see that the watchmen stayed awake. If he found them asleep once he beat them; if he found them asleep a second time he burnt their clothes. This, then, means that it is the time for those who are guarding the Temple to keep awake. The whole symbolism of the Sixth Bowl, of which this is a part, has to do with an attack on the Temple. The time has come and the churches must be awake.

16:16 - The narrative is resumed as we are told that the kings will gather at a place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Much has been made by futurists (that claim the only way to read Revelation is literally) concerning this battle of Armageddon. The problem here for them is that this is literally spelled Har-Magedon, which means Mount Megiddo. Megiddo is a city on a plain, not a mountain. The closest mountain is Mt. Carmel. Why didn’t John just say Mt. Carmel? Apparently he wanted to refer to both Megiddo and Mt. Carmel at the same time. Mt. Carmel was associated with the defeat of Jezebel’s false prophets, and Megiddo was the scene of several important military engagements in Biblical history (Josh. 12:21; Jud. 5:19; 2 Ki. 9:27). Probably the most significant event that took place, in terms of John’s imagery, was the confrontation between Judah’s King Josiah and the Pharaoh Neco. Josiah faced Neco in deliberate disobedience to God, and was mortally wounded (2 Chron. 25:20-25). Judah’s downward spiral into apostasy, destruction, and bondage following Josiah’s death was swift and sure. The Jews continued to mourn Josiah’s death down through the time of Ezra (2 Chron. 35:25). Megiddo was, for John, a symbol of defeat and desolation, a place that held defeat for those who set themselves against God. Austin Farrar says that "Mt. Megiddo stands in [John’s] mind for a place where lying prophecy and its dupes go to meet their doom; where kings and their armies are misled to their destruction; and where all the tribes of the earth mourn to see Him in power, whom in weakness they had pierced."

16:17 - The seventh angel pours out his bowl into the air, accompanied by a loud voice from the throne, saying it is done. Once again the voice comes out of the Temple, signifying God’s control and approval. John said that these plagues were the end (Rev. 15:1), and now the voice proclaims it is done.

16:18 - Once again we have the phenomena, flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake, that accompany the glory cloud of God. This is the seventh mention of earthquakes in Revelation (Rev. 6:12; 8:5; twice in 11:13; 11:19; twice in 16:18), emphasizing the Covenantal aspects. Christ came to bring the definitive earthquake of the New Covenant, one such as no earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth (See Heb. 12:25-29 for similar sentiments).

16:19 - The great city is Jerusalem where the Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:8; cf. 14:8). The city is to be split into three parts. The imagery here comes from Ezekiel 5:1-12, where God has Ezekiel stage a drama (which included shaving his head with a sharp sword) portraying the coming destruction of Jerusalem. There is also a historical correspondent to this prophecy: During the siege of Jerusalem, the city was divided amongst three factions who were fighting within the city for control. This, no doubt, sped up the fall of the city greatly. John gives another indicator that the great city is Jerusalem, as he distinguishes it from the cities of the nations, which are the cities of the Gentiles. It is also very clear in this verse that Jerusalem is Babylon the great, a distinction that will become important as we proceed.

16:20 - Every island fled and the mountains could not be found. In this final judgment, there is no place to hide for the wicked. Every false refuge disappears before the wrath of God.

16:21 - Just as Ezekiel foretold that Jerusalem’s false prophets would bring destruction by a great hailstorm (Ezek. 13:1-16), John tells the same fate as he writes of hailstones that weighed a hundred pounds each. This, as with the other plagues, correlates to the plagues of Egypt. It is interesting to note that Josephus records that the Romans catapulted into Jerusalem "stone missiles" that weighed about a hundred pounds each. The rebellion of these men was so complete that the plagues did not humble them, but rather, they blasphemed God for the destruction that had been brought on by their own actions.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Revelation 16:8-14

8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.



16:8-9 - The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. The fourth trumpet resulted in darkness as did the ninth Egyptian plague. Now the heat of the sun is intensified so that it would scorch people with fire. This is another reversal of the basic covenantal blessing that Israel would be shielded from the heat of the sun by the glory cloud (Ex. 13:21-22; Ps. 91:1-6; Jer. 17:7-8; Rev. 7:15-17). The fact that the sun was given this power to scorch, emphasizes the sovereignty of God. Those being judged, however, had cursed the name of God, and refused to submit to His authority. They had rebuffed the One who had control over these plagues just as Pharaoh had (Ex. 7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34-35; 10:20, 27: 11:10; 14:8), and they refused to repent and glorify Him. Israel, in rejecting God, had become like Egypt, and now, would be destroyed just as Egypt had been.

16:10-11 - Most of the judgments of Revelation were poured out on Israel, but the kingdoms who joined Israel against the Church would also come under condemnation. Thus, the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the Beast. At the same time that the sun's heat is scorching those who worship the Beast; the lights are turned out on his kingdom as it was plunged into darkness, a common Biblical symbol for political turmoil and the fall of rulers (Isa. 13:9-10; Amos 8:9; Ezek. 32:7-8). It is likely that this plague corresponds to the wars, revolutions, riots, and convulsions that ravaged the Roman Empire after Nero committed suicide in June 68 AD. The historian Tacitus wrote that "The whole city presented a frightful caricature of its normal self: fighting and casualties at one point, baths and restaurants at another, here the spilling of blood and the litter of dead bodies." These Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. A unique aspect of the bowl plagues is that all come virtually at once with little "breathing space" between them. They did not come one at a time as they did in Egypt, but the men here are still cursing God on account of the sores they received during the first plague. They are poured out so quickly that the people are still suffering from the plagues that have preceded it. Despite all of this, they refused to repent for what they had done.

16:12 - The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. As we saw in chapter 9, the Euphrates was the river on Israel's northern front from which invading armies would attack. The image of it drying comes in part from a strategy that Cyrus the Persian used by temporarily turning the river off its course, enabling his army to march up the riverbed into the City of Babylon, capturing it. The primary imagery, though, is that of the drying up of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21-22) and the Jordan River (Josh. 3:9-17; 4:22-24). There is another instance of tragic irony here in that Israel has become the enemy that must be conquered rather than being delivered by the drying up of the river. Phillip Carrington observes, in The Meaning of the Revelation, that these armies coming from the Euphrates "surely represents nothing but the return of Titus to besiege Jerusalem with further reinforcements." This happened, of course, during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

16:13-14 - Then John sees three evil spirits that come out of the mouth of the Dragon, out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet. This plague is connected with the second of the Egyptian plagues except that these frogs are really evil spirits that perform miraculous signs. David Chilton, says in Days of Vengeance, that "there is a multiple emphasis on the Dragon (imitated by his cohorts) throwing things from his mouth (cf. 12:15-16; 13:5-6; contrast 1:16; 11:5; 19:15, 21) and the triple repetition of mouth here serves also as another point of contact with the sixth trumpet (9:17-19). These evil spirits go out from Satan (Dragon), the Roman government (Beast), and the leaders of Israel (False Prophet), to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle. They have all worked in different ways to incite the armies of the world to join together in war against God. What they don't realize is that they are really going to be used for God's purposes, not their own (See 1 Ki. 22:19-22; 2 Thess. 2:7-12 for similar concepts). All of this will happen on the great day of God Almighty, which is a Biblical term for a day of judgment (Isa. 13:6, 9; Joel 2:1-2, 11, 31; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph. 1:14-18). This is the day of execution that Jesus had foretold in one of His parables (Matt. 22:7).

Friday, February 16, 2007

Revelation 16:1-7

The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath
1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." 2The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
3The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
"You are just in these judgments,
you who are and who were, the Holy One,
because you have so judged;
6for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."
7And I heard the altar respond:
"Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments."



The following is adapted from a chart that will not transfer to this medium form. The capital letters (ABC) correspond to the numbers below. The chart demonstrates the similarities before bowls, trumpets, and plagues of Egypt.

A. Bowls

B. Trumpets

C. Plagues of Egypt


1A. On the land, becom-ing sores (16:2)

1B. On the land, 1/3 earth, trees, grass burned (8:7)

1C. Boils (6th plague: Ex. 9:8-12)

2A. On the sea, becom-ing blood (16:3)

2B. On the sea (8:8-9)

2C. Water to blood (1st plague: Ex. 7:17-21)

3A. On rivers & springs, becoming blood (16:4-7)

3B. On the rivers and springs (8:10-11)

3C. Water to blood (1st plague: Ex. 7:17-21)

4A. On the sun, causing it to scorch (16:8-9)

4B. 1/3 sun, moon, stars darkened (8:12)

4C. Darkness (9th plague: Ex. 10:21-23

5A. On the throne of the Beast, causing dark-ness (16:10-11)

5B. Demonic locusts (9:1-12)

5C. Locusts (8th plague: Ex. 10:4-20)

6A. On the Euphrates; invasion of frog-de-mons, Armageddon (16:12-16)

6B. Army from Euphra-tes kills 1/3 mankind (9:13-21)

6C. Invasion of frogs (2nd plague: Ex. 8:2-4)

7A. On the air, causing storm, earthquake, and hail (16:17-21)

7B. Voices, storm, earth-quake, hail (11:15-19)

7C. Hail (7th plague: Ex. 9:18-26)



16:1 - The loud voice from the Temple commands to pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth. The term ‘pour’ is the same word used in the Hebrew as the priests poured out the blood of the sacrifice around the base of the altar (Lev. 4:7, 12, 18, 25, 30, 34; 8:15; 9:9). In the New Testament this word is used in contexts that parallel the major themes of Revelation: the spilling of wine (Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37), the shedding of Christ’s blood (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20), the shedding of martyr’s blood (Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:50; Acts 22:20; Rom. 3:15), and the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:17-18, 33; 10:45; Rom. 5:5; Tit. 3:6; cf. Joel 2:28-29; Zech. 12:10). All these different associations are in the background of the imagery of the bowls used here.

16:2 - As a result of the first bowl poured on the land (Israel), people broke out with painful sores. This is reminiscent of the sixth Egyptian plague of boils, as well as the fulfillment of the promised sores of the curse for breaking the Covenant (Deut. 28:27-35). It is also a fitting retribution as a mark for those who who have accepted the mark of the Beast.

16:3 - The second bowl is poured on the sea. It is similar to the first Egyptian plague and the second trumpet. This time, however, the blood doesn’t flow as streams but as the coagulated, putrefying blood of a dead man. Although this is primarily symbolic, there was a corresponding moment in the history of the destruction of Jerusalem as rebels fled to the Sea of Galilee from the massacre of Tarichaeae. The Romans killed so many rebels in the Sea, that Josephus said, "One could see the whole lake stained with blood and crammed with corpses."

16:4-7 - The plague of the third bowl is poured out on the rivers and springs of water and resembles the first Egyptian plague. Water, a symbol of life, is corrupted here in a reversal of sorts of the paradise of the Garden of Eden. The angel responds to this plague by praising God as just in these judgments. There is no need to be embarrassed by this. Although the concept of the judgment of God is not popular in our culture, it is a common Biblical theme, and we can be assured that God’ judgments are always right. Part of the justification for this judgment is the fact that they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets. One of the characteristic charges against Israel was the murder of the prophets (2 Chron. 36:15-16; Luke 13:33-34); Acts 7:52). In fact, Jesus said this was the specific reason that judgment would come on this generation (Matt. 23:31-36). Joining in the praise comes the voice of the altar itself, where the blood of the saints and prophets had been poured out: Yes Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Revelation 15:5-8

5After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. 6Out 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. 7Then 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. 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 completed.



15:5 - The scene changes as John sees the tabernacle of the Testimony which is in heaven. This may seem a bit confusing at first but actually makes a great deal of sense. The Bible tells us in several places that the Tabernacle and Temple on earth were but shadows, patterned after the real item (Heb. 8:2, 5; 9:11-12, 23-24; 10:1; Ex. 25:9, 40; 26:30; Num. 8:4; Acts 7:44). John also takes care to use the correct technical language, calling the document of the Covenant, the Testimony, emphasizing its legal character (Ex. 16:34; 25:16, 21-22; 31:18; 32:15; cf. Ps. 19:7; Isa. 8:16, 20). The Tabernacle where the Testimony was kept was called the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Ex. 38:21; Num. 1:50, 53; 9:15; 10:11; acts 7:44).

One of the primary themes of Revelation is the coming of the New Covenant and the passing of the Old. In John’s theology, the Church is the new Temple. The Mosaic Tabernacle was a copy of the original heavenly version and a foreshadowing of the Church in the New Covenant (Heb. 8:5; 10:1). John shows that these two, the heavenly pattern and the Church overlap in the New Covenant age. The Church tabernacles in heaven. If the Temple is the Church, then the Testimony is the New Covenant, the Testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1:2, 9: 6:9; 12:11, 17; 19:10; 20:4).

15:6-7 - Out of the Temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They have come to apply the curses announced by the trumpets. As priests of the New Covenant, they were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. John then tells us that one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls. We can, perhaps, assume that this is the creature with the man’s face (Rev. 4:7), since the other three have already taken action in the Revelation. The bowls are filled with the wrath of God. The imagery of the bowls is a bit difficult. In one sense, the substance in the bowls is "burning sulfur" (Rev. 14:10) so it seems to be fire, which would make them incense bowls, yet in another sense, the wicked will drink of it, which brings forth the imagery of a wine cup. In The Revelation of St. John the Divine, Austin Farrer says, "The ‘bowls,’ phialae, are libation-bowls. Now the libation, or drink-offering, was poured at the daily sacrifice just after the trumpets had begun to sound, so that by placing bowls in sequence to trumpets St. John maintains the sequence of ritual action that began with the slaughtered Lamb, continued in the incense-offering and passed into the trumpet-blasts. Because the drink-offering had such a position, it was the last ritual act, completing the service of the altar and was proverbial in that connection (Phil. 2:17). The drink-offering, as St. Paul implies, was poured upon the slaughtered victim, burning in the fire. Because there is no bloody sacrifice in heaven, the angels pour their libations upon the terrible holocaust of vengeance which divine justice makes on earth." John’s point is that blood and fire are about to be poured from the bowls onto the land of Israel. This has all been approved by God, as the angels have received their bowls from one of the creatures that carried God’s Throne (Rev. 4:6).

15:8 - The Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter. This imagery clearly comes from the dedication of both the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon (Ex. 40:34-35; 1 Ki. 8:10-11; 2 Chron. 5:11-14; 7:1-3). This is the phenomenon that happened as the heavenly fire appeared and consumed the sacrifices (Lev. 9:23-24; 2 Chron. 7:1-3)). Thus the filling of the Temple in this manner was both a sign of God’s glorious presence as well as an awesome revelation of His wrath against sinners.

In the New Covenant, the Church was the Temple of God, filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On that day, however, Peter declared that the final end of the Old Covenant age would be accompanied by "blood and fire, and billows of smoke" (Acts 2:19). For the Church to take full possession of the inheritors of the New Covenant, the corrupt scaffolding of the Old Covenant had to be torn down. This is demonstrated in theological terms, as John says that no one could enter the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed in the destruction of the Temple and Old Covenant Israel.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Revelation 15:1-4

Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
1I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. 2And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God 3and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
4Who will not fear you, O 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."



15:1 - This is the third time that John has emphasized the importance of a sign, calling this one another great and marvelous sign. The emphasis on the conflict between the woman and the Dragon will now transition into the climax of the book: seven last plagues--last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. This doesn’t imply that these are the last plagues of all time, simply the last described in the book of Revelation. This will be the once-for-all abolishing of the Old Covenant.

15:2 - As this vision begins, John sees what looks like a sea of glass. This is the crystal sea before God’s throne (Rev. 4:6), similarly described as the sapphire pavement seen by Moses on the Holy Mountain (Ex. 24:10), the sapphire firmament through which Ezekiel passed (Ezek. 1:26), and which was symbolized by the sea (the laver) in the Temple (1 Ki. 7:23-26). In this vision, however, the sea is no longer blue, but has symbolically turned red. This ties it to images from the end of chapter 14 and the great river of blood running through the whole land, an ominous Red Sea through which the righteous have been delivered. The saints are standing beside the sea, celebrating just as the children of Israel rejoiced after crossing through the Red Sea (Ex. 14:30-31; 15:1-21). They had been victorious, the overcomers by escaping the Beast and his image and over the number of his name. As they rejoice they held harps given them by God. They are a new priestly choir standing at the precipice of their victory. Paul described the Red Sea deliverance as a baptism of sorts of God’s people (1 Cor. 10:1-2). This tribulation was surely the Church’s baptism of the same kind, baptism by fire. When the Israelites were delivered, their persecutors were sent to their destruction. In the same way, destruction will befall the people who have been primarily responsible for persecuting the Church.

15:3-4 - The saints sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb. This song echoes both songs of Moses from Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32, although neither are directly quoted here. The song is full of Old Testament references, including: Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty (Ex. 34:10; Deut. 32:3-4; 1 Chron. 16:8-12; Ps. 92:5; 111:2; 139:14; Isa. 47:4; Jer. 10:16; Amos 4:13). Just and true are your ways (Deut. 32:4; Ps. 145:17; Hos. 14:9) Thou King of Nations (Ps. 22:28; 47:2, 7-8; 82:8). Here God is praised for his mighty actions, which are righteous and fair. What are these actions? The dual actions of his salvation of the saints and the destruction of the enemies of His kingdom. Both of these actions demonstrate that he is the true ruler of the world. He moves the armies of the earth to fulfill His purposes in judgment.

Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? (Ex. 15:14-16; Jer. 10:6-7). In others words, who will not be converted to serve God, to worship Him, and obey Him? The implication is that at some point, a majority of all people will come to Jesus Christ for salvation. For you alone are holy (Ex. 15:11; 1 Sam. 2:2; Ps. 99:3, 5, 9; Isa. 6:3; 57:5, 15; Hos. 11:9). This refers not so much to God’s ethical qualities as it does to His unique majesty and transcendence. For all nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed (1 Chron. 16:28-31; Ps. 2:8; 22:27: 65:2; 66:4; 67:1-7; 86:8-9; 117:1; Isa. 26:9; 66:23; Jer. 16:19). The conversion of all nations is both the goal and the result of God’s righteous judgment and His holiness. John is reminding us that the fall of Israel will eventually bring about the salvation of the world.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Revelation 14:17-20

17Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too
had a sharp sickle. 18Still another angel, who had charge of
the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him
who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather
the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes
are ripe." 19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered
its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's
wrath. 20They were trampled in the winepress outside the
city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the
horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.


14:17-18 - John notes that another angel came out of the Temple in
heaven, and he too hard a sharp sickle. In so doing, he returns to the
theme of judgment. Although the spreading of the gospel and the overcoming
of the saints is the primary focus of this Revelation, running concurrently
is the idea of the cutting off of apostate Israel. In Genesis 21 we see how
Isaac was recognized as the child of the promise of the covenant. Before that
could happen, however, it required the excommunication of Hagar and her
son Ishmael. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul compared the Old Covenant
and the physical nation of Israel to Hagar, the slave woman, and Ishmael; he
also compared the New Covenant and the Church to Sara, the free woman,
and Isaac, the child of promise. He wrote: "Now you, brothers, like Isaac,
are children of promise. . . Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the
slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's
son. . . Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of
the free woman" (Gal. 4:28-31). In that passage, Paul makes clear that old
Jerusalem, the capital city of apostasy, had been cast out from the Covenant.
The Church was now the legitimate heir of the promises of God that had
been made to Abraham. Christians are the true children of the heavenly
Jerusalem.

At first glance, it may appear that this angel with the sharp sickle has come
to do the same work as the previous angel, but it quickly becomes apparent
that this is not the case. Here, though, John goes all the way back to Rev.
6:9-11, when the saints were gathered around the golden altar of incense,
offering up their prayers for the destruction of their enemies. An angel had
taken the bowl containing the prayers of the saints, filled it with the fire of
the altar and threw it to the land (Rev. 8:3-5). Now, John sees that same
angel, the one who had charge of the fire. This angel who has the power
of the fire burning on the altar, comes from the altar of the saints’ prayers in
order to hand down judgment. He is bringing the historical, physical
response to the prayers of the saints. This angel also wants a harvest, but it
is the harvest of the grapes of wrath. The third angel calls to the second
angel, the one with the sickle, and tells him to take his sharp sickle and
gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes
are ripe. God’s vineyard is now ripe for judgment. "Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will
be destroyed . . . I will make it a wasteland" (Is. 5:5-6).

14:19-20 - Israel, God’s vineyard, has been judged and found wanting.
Judgment is now at hand: The angel swung his sickle on the earth,
gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s
wrath. This creates the substance that will be poured from the cups in
chapter 16. Verses 15-19 make six references to the land (earth). Combined
with the imagery of the vine, there is an emphasis that this is a judgment on
the land of Israel. When considering the extensive Old Testament references
to Israel as the vineyard, it doesn’t seem possible that John would have used
this language without meaning to communicate the judgment of Jerusalem
and Israel. The imagery for this particular passage comes from Isaiah
63:1-6, in which God is described as a man, whose robe is stained red crushing grapes in a winepress.

They were trampled in the winepress outside the city , and the blood
flowed for a distance of 1,600 stadia. The number 1,600 is very symbolic
as are most numbers in Revelation. It emphasizes the land: four squared (the
land), times ten squared (largeness). 1,600 is slightly larger than the length
of Israel. The whole land of Israel, then, is represented as overflowing with
the blood of the coming judgment. The flowing blood reaches as high as the
horses’ bridle, reminding the reader of the Pharaoh’s horses during the
Exodus (Ex. 14:23, 28; 15:19). Old Israel had become apostate like Egypt,
and now her horses would be swimming in the blood of judgment. The
winepress was outside the city because in the Old Testament sacrificial
system, the bodies of the sacrificial animals would be burned outside the
camp. The winepress of judgment that would purify the land would be
outside the city as well.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Revelation 14:12-16

12This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints
who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
13Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord from now on."
"Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for
their deeds will follow them."
The Harvest of the Earth
14I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and
seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man"with a crown
of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15Then
another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud
voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle
and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of
the earth is ripe." 16So he who was seated on the cloud swung
his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.



14:12-13 - The patient endurance, hope and confidence on the part of
the saints is in the justice and governance that God exercises over the
earth. His judgment is a certainty that can be counted on. The saints can
be confident that we do not need to fear or fret evildoers because they will
wither like grass and the righteous will eventually inherit the earth (Ps. 37).
James told the readers of his letter the same idea, that they should be
patient because the Lord is the judge and he was standing at the door ready
to judge (James 5:7-9). This hope and perseverance is tied together with
obeying God’s commandments and remaining faithful to Jesus. There is
no provision in the New Testament for a lawless Christian or a Christian
not devoted to the content of the "faith that was once for all entrusted to the
saints" (Jude 3). Christians will face opposition and persecution, but
faithful obedience is a requirement of the patient endurance of the saints.
As an encouragement, John writes the next words of the voice from
heaven, which says, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now
on . Before Christ, God’s people resided in Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom
(Luke 16:22). With the work of Christ, though, heaven has been opened.
Abraham’s Bosom was unlocked and its inhabitants freed (1 Pet. 3:19;
4:6). Although Christ promised the thief next to Him on the Cross that he
would be with Him in Paradise on that very day (Luke 23:43), he is no
longer there and wasn’t there for very long. Christ has ascended on high
and led the captives in his train (Eph. 4:8). Even though those in Paradise
were God’s children, they could not be in God’s holy presence until their
sins had been paid for once-and-for-all by the death of Christ on the Cross.
The early Christians understood that death had been conquered by the
Resurrection of Christ. The early church father, Athanasius wrote: "All the
disciples of Christ despise death; . . Instead of fearing it [they] trample on
it as something dead. Before the divine sojourn of the Savior even the
holiest of men were afraid of death. . . But now that the Savior has raised
His body, death is no longer terrible, but all those who believe in Christ
tread it underfoot as nothing, and prefer to die rather than to deny their faith
in Christ, knowing full well that when they die they do not perish, but live
indeed, and become incorruptible through the resurrection."

14:14-16 - These verses serve as the centerpiece of the section from verses
6-20. Three angels have already been making proclamations to the land of Israel
(v. 6-13). Three more are about to come to perform symbolic actions over
the land (v. 15, 17-20), and in the middle is a white cloud, and seated on
the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head.
This is the now familiar glory cloud with which Christ was clothed in 10:1.
Now it is white and not dark as it was on Sinai (Ex. 19:16-18; Zeph.
1:14-15). In referring to the cloud and the son of man, John is clearly
connecting this passage to Daniel 7:13-14, his prophecy of the coming of
the Messiah which follows his vision of the Beasts with seven heads and
ten horns.

John’s point is that the Beasts can do their worst, but the son of
man has already ascended in the clouds and received his eternal dominion
over all peoples and nations. This is not a vision of some future event but
of Christ’s original ascension in the clouds. The son of man also had a
sharp sickle and began to reap, because the time to reap has come. The
fourth angel repeats what the first angel had said, namely that the time had
come. His emphasis, though, is on blessing, the gathering of the elect, not
on judgment. The son of man swung his sickle over the earth, and the
earth was harvested. This is connected with Jesus’ words that he would
send out His angels, His apostolic messengers, to gather in the elect (Matt.
24:30-31). As Christ had said, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are
few" (Luke 10:2). The image of the sickle is connected with the Pentecost,
which was celebrated after the grain had been harvested (Deut. 16:9).

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Revelation 14:6-11

The Three Angels
6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the
eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to
every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud
voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his
judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the
earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening
wine of her adulteries."
9A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If
anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his
mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of
the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength
into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning
sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.
There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast
and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his
name."




14:6-7 - The remainder of this chapter is a series of seven visions that consist of three angels, a vision of the glorified Christ, and then three more angels. John is about to transition between the trumpet visions which are proclamations of judgment, and the bowl visions which are applications of judgment. In foreshadowing this, the first three angels in this section make special proclamations regarding the victory of the Lamb, while the last three angels perform actions that assist in this conquest.

John sees another angel flying in midair. This is the realm of the eagle that was crying woe to the earth (Rev. 8:13). The message of this angel is peace, as the coming judgment is not the end of all things it is part of the proclamation of the eternal gospel, which is the spreading of the message of the kingdom of God. The message of this angel is, in fact, a short summation of the message of the New Testament: Fear God (Luke 1:50; 12:5; Acts 10:35), and give him glory (Matt. 5:16; 9:8; 15:31), because the hour of his judgment has come. (John 12:23, 31-32; 16:8-11) Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of waters (Acts 17:24-31). The angel has addressed this message to those who live on the earth (which literally says "those who sit on the land"). Those who live on the earth is the usual language for apostate Israel (Rev. 3:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:2, 8), thus this message is focused on the authorities who sit in power over Israel. The basic message of the gospel had called for submission to Jesus Christ, but they had rejected him (Luke 19:14). The NIV here removes the word ‘and’ which should be placed after the earth and before the phrase to every nation, tribe, language and people. The omission of that one word is important because without it we lose that there is a distinction between these two groups. Every nation, tribe, language, and people is a reference to the Gentiles. Jesus said that this message would be preached to the world before the end (judgment) would come (Matt. 24:14). It was the gospel order that it should be preached first to the Jew, then to the Gentile (Acts 3:26; 11:18; 13:46-48; 28:23-29; Rom. 1:16; 2:9). Paul verified that the gospel was, in fact, preached to the whole world before the end came in 70 AD (Rom. 1:8; 10:18; Col. 1:5-6; 23). Despite the best efforts of the Dragon and his Beasts, the Church was successful in evangelizing the world.

14:8 - The second angel declares, Fallen! Fallen is Babylon, the Great. This is the first mention of Babylon in Revelation and is a foreshadowing a later full explanation. It is probable that the first readers of this book would have immediately understood that this was a reference to Jerusalem. Peter, in his first letter (1 Pet. 5:13) referred to the city from which he was writing as Babylon. Many have supposed this to be Rome, but it seems far more likely that it was Jerusalem from where he was writing. Jerusalem is where Peter lived and exercised his ministry (Acts 8:1; 12:3; Gal. 1:18; 2:1-9; cf. 1 Pet. 4:17). First Peter also sends greetings from Mark and Silas (1 Pet. 5:12-13), both of whom lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12; 15:22-40). It is also true that the Revelation has focused on Jerusalem and only mentions Rome to the degree that she is related to Jerusalem. As we will see in chapter 17 and 18, the evidence that Babylon is Jerusalem will become overwhelming. She has made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. Israel was to be a light to the world, but has instead, seduced them into idolatry and a false view of God.

14:9-11 - Now the third angel declares that anyone who worships the Beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury. This is the same offense of Israel, the land Beast given in Rev. 13:15-18, giving a further clue that Babylon is Israel. Those who drink of Babylon’s cup of rejecting the true gospel will drink of the wine of God’s fury. Those who drink of the cup of Babylon’s state worship will drink from God’s wrath; drinking one will automatically bring the other. This also brings echoes of the fact that it was common in the ancient world to give prisoners a potion which would put them in a state of stupor to diminish their pain during execution. The fact that the Lamb is present at torment and suffering of the wicked has caused many a great deal of difficulty in explaining. The fact is, however, that this only seems inconsistent with the nature of Jesus, when seen through eyes that have created a ‘gentle and loving’ Christ contrary to the authentic person described in the New Testament. In a sad turn of fate, these people will have no rest day or night, which is in direct contrast of the righteous angels who praise God day and night.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Revelation 14:1-5

The Lamb and the 144,000
1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing
on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and
his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a
sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a
loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists
playing their harps. 3And they sang a new song before the
throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No
one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been
redeemed from the earth. 4These are those who did not defile
themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They
follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased
from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the
Lamb. 5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.



14:1 - John looks and sees before him, the Lamb, standing on Mount
Zion. This takes us back to Psalm 2, where it says "I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy hill" (Ps. 2:6). The Beasts rose from the land and the sea,
but the Lamb stands on Mount Zion, and is already installed as King of
kings and ruler of all nations. There are many prophetic passages in the Old
Testament that reference the restoration of the Mountain to earth, which is
a prophecy of restoring things to the original paradise that God intended His
creation to be (Isa. 2:2-4; Dan. 2:32-35, 44-45; Mic. 4:1-4). This all points
to the time when God’s Kingdom will fill the earth (Isa. 11:9). The Lamb
standing on the Mountain is a symbol of Christ in victory over His enemies,
with His people restored to a fellowship with God. This means that the
Lamb is not alone on Mt. Zion. With Him are 144,000 who had His name
and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. The mark of God’s
ownership (like the sealing of the true Israel - Isa. 7:2-8) is readily visible
within God’s holy people, the remnant of Israel, the Church. If we remember
from chapter 7, the 144,000 belong to the Church, the gathering of
overcomers, but are also, specifically, the remnant-Church of the first
century. So, while the specific application of the 144,000 is to the first
century Church, in principle they are seen as the entire Church (which they
were when John wrote this). This can be seen by comparing the description
between the 144,000 here and the redeemed in Rev. 5:6-11.

14:2-3 - Once again, John hears the familiar sound of the voices like the
roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder , as well asharpists playing their harps. These are the familiar sounds that are associated with the Glory Cloud of God. The army of saints sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the
elders. As we saw in Rev. 5:9, the new song is the new form of worship
and liturgy associated with this new epoch in history. This exultant worship
belongs to the church alone (cf. Rev. 2:17). No one could learn the song
except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth (or literally,
"purchased from the land). The saints have been redeemed out of Israel
from the tyranny of the Beast. They are the only ones capable of worshiping
God with this new song, in spirit and truth (John 4:24).

14:4-5 - John continues in his description of the redeemed as he says they
are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept
themselves pure. The imagery of virgins is extreme symbolism for the
purity of the saints, it is not a reference to their literal virginity. The concept
of virgin is used frequently in the Old Testament to describe the people of
God (2 Ki. 19:21; Isa. 23:12; 37:22; Jer. 14:17; 18:13; 31:4, 21; Lam. 1:15;
2:13). The context of the passage also shows condemnation for the fornication
committed by the nations in worshiping the Beast. There are numerous
examples in the Bible with fornication and harlotry being used as metaphors
for apostasy and idolatry (Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2:20-3:11; Ezek. 16:15-43; Rev.
2:14, 20-22).

The army of believers gathered around the Lamb, are chaste, faithful, and
fully committed to Him. In fact, they follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
The term ‘follow’ is a typical metaphor for being an obedient disciple (Matt.
9:9; 10:38; 16:24; Mark 9:38; 10:21, 28; Luke 9:23; John 8:12; 10:4-5, 27;
21:22). These followers were purchased from among men and offered
as first fruits to God and the Lamb. The first fruits is an expression of
sacrifice, the giving of the first harvest of the land to the Lord. These
Christians have given themselves up, then, to the service of God because
they have been purchased by the Lamb.

No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. It is the Dragon
who is the deceiver and the father of lies (John 8:44; Rev. 12:9). The
children of the Dragon are characterized by lies, but the children of God are
characterized by truthfulness. The basic lie that plagues human beings is
idolatry. This the first lie that humans accepted and has caused the rift
between man and humanity.