(2011) Tonight we move squarely into the events of the second half of Tribulation Chapters 10-14 have taken us out of the Trumpet judgments and into the amazing events of mid-tribulation SLIDE 15-1 SLIDE 15-2 Those events have drawn to a close, and now we wonder how the second 3½ years will proceed Though there is still much to happen at the end of Tribulation, in a way the answer will be a bit of a disappointment Because the next two chapters pick up at a point near the end of Tribulation Most of the second half of Tribulation will have concluded In reality, we ve already studied most of the last half of Tribulation In chapters 12-14 we learned that during the last 3½ years the enemy is confined to earth, persecuting anyone who threatens his existence He seeks to kill Christians and Jews And through the support of the false prophet, the antichrist pursues economic and police state policies that bring a temporary sense of peace to the unbeliever While bringing great persecution to believers and Jews In a nutshell, this is the second half of Tribulation...until the bowl judgments begin Let s revisit all three judgment series in Tribulation SLIDE 15-3 The first series of judgments, the seals, contains all three judgments So that seventh seal ARE the seven trumpet judgments And then the seventh trumpet will become the seven bowl judgments When the judgments were suspended at the end of chapter 9, we knew we were waiting for the seventh trumpet to sound
2! We do not know the exact timing for any of the judgments, whether seals, trumpets or bowls We only know relative positioning within the seven years of Tribulation For example, we know that the seal judgments cannot begin until Tribulation itself has started by the signing of a covenant We also know that the seal judgments must happen before the trumpet and the trumpet before the bowls And we know that the seal judgments and trumpet judgments happen before the middle of Tribulation, based on the sequence of chapters in Revelation Now as we transition into the second half of Tribulation, we know that the bowl judgments are after the middle of Tribulation But we re faced with the same question of where exactly in the second half of Tribulation do these judgments take place The short answer is we can be sure exactly, but there are some strong pieces of evidence in the judgments themselves to tell us that they come at the very end of Tribulation We ll come back to this question again later as we move through the judgments For now, let s dive into chapter 15, transitioning our of mid-tribulation Rev. 15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. Once again John s attention is directed into the Heavenly realm He sees another great and wondrous sign in Heaven He calls what he s seeing a sign, a symbol In fact, all of chapter of 15 is a sign It sends us a message through symbols The sign begins with the seven angels holding seven bowls
3! John says these bowls are the last, meaning the last of the judgments because they are the last of God s judgments under the Old Covenant God s obligations to pour our wrath for sin under the terms of that covenant will be met by completed with these seven judgments In fact, the wrath of God is finished with these judgments God s wrath for the believer was satisfied by Christ s substitution in our place But for the unbelieving world and in particularly the unbelieving Jew bound by the Mosaic Covenant, the wrath of God came to them directly Most perished and will endure the wrath of God for eternity But for a few, the pouring our of God s wrath is intended to refine and purify Zech. 13:8 It will come about in all the land, Declares the LORD, That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. God is in the process of cutting off some and refining others, particularly in the nation of Israel Israel remains the focus of this time And now that some of Israel have believed and are protected in Botzrah, there is still the matter of the unbelieving Jews God will begin to narrow His focus on them while at the same time bringing judgment against the enemy and the unbelieving world Is. 48:8 You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth.
4! Is. 48:9 For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. Is. 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Is. 48:11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another. Is. 48:12 Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. Back to chapter 15, let s look at John s sign: Rev. 15:2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. Rev. 15:3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Rev. 15:4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED. The sign has multiple parts, beginning with a glass sea mixed with fire We have to give John credit for trying to describe the scenes he s shown in the heavenly realm It seems as though he has no point of reference except to combine elements from earth into impossible combinations Obviously, sea, glass and fire don t ordinarily mix Standing on this sea are those who had been victorious over the beast Obviously, this is a reference to those who were martyred in the Tribulation Isn t it interesting that death is described as a victory over the beast and his image and the number of his name
5! The reason death is equated with victory is simply that death removes the person from the influence of the beast Once a saint dies in Tribulation, they pass from the dominion of the enemy to the dominion of the Lord And since they have left the world behind, they are no longer within reach of the enemy Remember, the enemy has been cast down from Heaven Notice the things they have overcome: the beast and the mark They overcame the beast and the mark in the sense that they never gave into his demands to worship him or take his sign Doing these things would have resulted in them never having opportunity to be with the Lord Because they have died without giving in to the enemy s demands, they have passed the test of life and entered into an eternal existence And they overcame the mark because they never loved their physical life more than the Lord This is exactly the kind of eternal perspective that all believers are expected to maintain The one who seeks to gain his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life will gain life eternal Next, we see these Tribulation saints singing with harps, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb These are two different songs The song of the Lamb is recorded in vs.3-4 The words of the song of the Lamb are a praise to Jesus specifically Though it never mentions Jesus by name, we know it is talking about Jesus because it is called the song of the Lamb
6! It declares that He is the righteous King of the nations And the Lamb will be worshipped by the nations These statements reflect every believers expectation that Jesus will soon reign on earth now that the Tribulation is coming to an end The song of Moses is a specific song from the OT There are two possible songs of Moses, since Moses sang songs at two different times in Scripture: Exodus 15:1-18 & Deut 32:1-43 In all likelihood, this Song of Moses is a combination of both earlier songs The first instance is the song sung by Moses and the sons of Israel after the departure of Israel from Egypt The song celebrates God s rescue of Israel from the attack of Pharaoh s armies As an example of the song, we find: Ex. 15:6 Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. Ex. 15:7 And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. The general theme of the song is of how God comes to the rescue of His chosen people in the face of a powerful enemy s attack The second song is even more interesting This is the song Moses sung to Israel in preparation for his death as Israel prepares to enter into Canaan It is a prophet message to Israel Consider some of what it contains:
7! Deut. 32:5 They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation. Deut. 32:6 Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. Deut. 32:7 Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you. Deut. 32:18 You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you birth. Moses predicted that Israel has been and would continue to be a perverse people They were ungrateful for how God saved them and called them as a nation And Moses calls them to remember their past That reminds of Leviticus 26 Deut. 32:21 They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, Deut. 32:22 For a fire is kindled in My anger, And burns to the lowest part of Sheol, And consumes the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deut. 32:23 I will heap misfortunes on them; I will use My arrows on them. Deut. 32:35 Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.
8! As a result, God promises He will bring His great anger against the people for their rejection of Him We remember that this relationship was established by covenants One covenant established the relationship without condition, that is the Abrahamic Covenant But another covenant came long side the first covenant That covenant was the Mosaic Covenant And Israel s disobedience to that covenant will require God to pour out His judgment against the nation for their sins under the covenant This we now know is the Age of the Gentiles culminating with the time of Tribulation Deut. 32:36 For the LORD will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free. Deut. 32:37 And He will say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? Deut. 32:38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place! Deut. 32:39 See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. Deut. 32:40 Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever, Deut. 32:41 If I sharpen My flashing sword, And My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.
9! Deut. 32:42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired leaders of the enemy. Deut. 32:43 Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people. Finally, the song ends with Moses promising that God s wrath won t be the end of the story for Israel The Lord will vindicate His people But His vindication will only come once His people have been brought to the point where their strength is at its end Neither slave or freeman will be able to go further Only then will God come to rescue Israel At this moment, God will be able to say where are their gods? He has brought to the point where no other source of spiritual strength is available God has torn away every other so-called god in Israel s life As God comes to Israel s rescue, the Lord says He will come to avenge Israel in the face of her enemies In v.41 God will repay Israel s adversaries And those who hate God Notice that God equates those who hate Israel with hating God Himself And God s sword will devour His enemies Finally, the nations of the earth will rejoice with Israel God will execute vengeance on Israel s enemies But notice also that God will atone for both the land and the people
10! So let s step back and try to fit this scene into the context of Revelation As we approach the end of Tribulation, John gives us a sign The sign depicts Tribulation martyrs in Heaven singing songs The songs become part of the sign and communicate something about what is going to happen at the end of Tribulation The first song is song by believers to believers It confesses the expectation that Christ s is coming to rule and reign It confesses He alone is righteous and holy These statements are what a believer in Tribulation will cling to as they face terrible persecution in this coming day The time will be something like the days of Christians fed to lions in Rome We can imagine that the enemy s forces demanding worship of the beast and his image may threaten to execute children in front of their parents or wives in front of their husbands And they will carry out even greater atrocities as the world falls completely under the enemy s power for a time But the believer s confidence lies in knowing that they overcome the enemy through death and Christ will return to reign shortly The song of Moses, however, is sung to a completely different group in the second half of Tribulation Both parts of the song are sung to the Jew of Tribulation, particularly to the orthodox Jew who is yet without faith but is resisting the enemy The first part of the song from Exodus promises that God is powerful enough to defeat Israel s enemies God will overthrow those who rise up against His people Later as we approach the end of Tribulation and the bowl judgments we ll see exactly how the Lord fulfills this promise to Israel in a day of desperation
! 11 The second part promises that God will take Israel through a time of judgment causing Her to experience great weakness This is promise is the time of Tribulation, particularly the second half of Tribulation And then it will be followed by a moment when God will intervene to defend Israel and rescue the nation And the nation s rescue will be through an atonement of God for Israel s sin The atonement will be just as promised in the Old Covenant, as we learned in our earlier study of the introduction of Tribulation We will also see this promise fulfilled in the later moments of Tribulation We ll study both parts as we approach chapter 19 So the sign is that believers are entering the Lord s presence once they die in Tribulation And the two persecuted groups in the second half of Tribulation have something to look forward to amidst the persecution Believers are looking forward to the Lord s reigning at the end of the bowl judgments And the orthodox Jews can look forward to the Lord s rescue of His people These messages are encouragement to those on earth in these days And they are a reminder to us of God s purpose in all the calamity He is bringing about the promises He made concerning Israel and concerning His Son Rev. 15:5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, Rev. 15:6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. Rev. 15:7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.
12! Rev. 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. Next, the sign transitions to the temple in Heaven The temple of the tabernacle is opened The tabernacle is the place where the Mercy Seat of God resides And where the Shechinah glory of God resides And where the atonement of Christ was applied to forgive sin Hebrews tells us about Christ s sacrifice in the Heaven temple Heb. 9:23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Heb. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; Heb. 9:25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Heb. 9:26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. On earth God instructed Israel to create copies of the things in the Heaven throne room But it was in the Heaven temple that Christ s blood was applied to make all things clean once for all And that open door into the temple has permitted the world access to the atoning work of Christ in cleansing sin But now that the wrath of God is being poured out on earth, the door to the temple is being closed and no one may enter As we discussed in chapters 13 and 14, the opportunity to receive God s mercy is over for a time Until the wrath of God has been poured out, mercy is no longer available
13! We know Jesus is the door and no one may come to the Father except through Jesus, but as mid-tribulation comes to an end that doorway to the Father is closed And no one may enter until the wrath of God is exhausted Then we jump into the last moments of Tribulation Chapter 16 is a summary explanation of the God s final act in Tribulation With these judgments the wrath of God and the Tribulation itself comes to an end As Paul promised, all Israel will be saved The antichrist and false prophet will be defeated as will all those who have aligned themselves by taking the mark of the beast All these things are accomplished through the bowl judgments...except we re only in chapter 16 We still have three more chapters of Revelation describing events of Tribulation before we see Christ s return So if the bowl judgments are described in chapter 16 how can the end still be three chapters away? The answer is will sound very familiar coming on the heels of our study of mid Tribulation Just as we saw a layering of events at the mid-tribulation moment, we will also see a layering of events at the last days and weeks of the second half of Tribulation The bowl judgments are summarized in chapter 16, but many of the events on earth that are triggered by the bowls will be described in chapters 17-19 Furthermore, we will find even more descriptions of these events in the OT prophets So to gain a full appreciation of all that is happening in the last moments of Tribulation, we must assemble a superstructure of the events And then place everything in proper sequence
14! To begin, let s look at the first five bowls, also know as the seventh trumpet or the third Woe Judgment: Rev. 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. Rev. 16:2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. Rev. 16:3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died. Rev. 16:4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. Rev. 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; Rev. 16:6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. Rev. 16:7 And I heard the altar saying, Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments. Rev. 16:8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Rev. 16:9 Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. Rev. 16:10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, Rev. 16:11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. It goes without saying that these judgments bring suffering and misery to a new level on earth First, God takes away man s physical comfort with sores Loathsome is from a Greek word meaning wretched and malignant is literally the word for evil or wicked We don t know what kind of sores these are, but if they are one of the bowl judgments, it must be the most terrible disturbance of the flesh imaginable Something evil, wretched Secondly, God puts an end to sea life All water is blood, making navigation on seas impossible and causing an unimaginable environmental disaster
15! This is followed by all fresh water sources becoming blood The angel explains the choice of blood in these judgments as a repayment for the enemy and the unbelieving world pouring out the blood of the saints How long can someone survive without water? Only a few days generally Perhaps the world may have some stockpiles of water to extend that time into weeks Nevertheless, the nature of these disasters tell us that the bowl judgments come near the very end of Tribulation Fourth, the sun suddenly increases in intensity to the point that it burns men Imagine living with evil wretched sores in a world with no rain (because the seas are blood) and no natural sources of fresh water and scorching fire What does this scenario sound like? Remember the earlier woe judgments? This scenario sounds like a preview of Hell The world is beginning to feel what is coming in eternity Scorching heat, no relief, endless physical torment And their response is to continue blaspheming God As we said last week, their sin nature is eternal and their rebellion will be eternal and therefore their punishment must be eternal Finally, the fifth bowl is darkness upon the earth The darkness is so intense that is causes unbearable pain How does darkness lead to pain? We can t know except to speculate that the darkness is more than simply physical darkness
16! Possible, it s a form of spiritual darkness and the pain is the spiritual pain of torment by spiritual forces of darkness You may have noticed a familiar pattern in many of these judgments SLIDE 15-4 Several mirror a past time when God brought judgment against people who were oppressing Israel The nation of Egypt as they oppressed the Israel of the Exodus For example, Bowls 1, 2, 3, and 5 all have parallels in the Exodus The connection is intentional It reminds us that once before God used plagues to bring Israel out of slavery and into a relationship with the Loving God The judgments gave Israel the opportunity for freedom and ultimately entrance into the Promised Land Likewise, these judgments are part of God s plan to free Israel from the slavery of sin and unbelief They will lead the nation into a relationship with their Lord and an opportunity to enter the Kingdom Just as the sign of the song of Moses foretold So now that we ve studied the first five bowls, let s pause to look at how the bowl judgments fit into the overall plan for the end of Tribulation SLIDE 15-5 The first five judgments are a systematic delivery of Hell to earth in preparation for the Lord s return We can call these judgments collectively the plagues, in recognition of the way they mirror the judgments brought against Egypt We know these judgments are described in chapter 16, obviously But they are also a backdrop for the events of chapter 18 As I ve said in past weeks, I m committed to teaching the book verse-by-verse, so we re not going to jump forward into that chapter But we will need to keep chapter 16 in mind when we get there
17! Then as we move forward in the bowl judgments, we eventually reach a point where the style of judgments changes dramatically The sixth judgment seems almost like an after thought And the seventh is a barrage of activity that is hard to follow in chapter 16 But as we study in future weeks, we ll learn that the last two judgments are actually the first two stages of the War of Armageddon This is the war that ends the Tribulation and leads to Christ s Second Coming We ll also note that the seventh judgment itself is recorded no only in chapter 16 but also in chapters 17 and 18 We ll dissect all this over the coming weeks, but we ll have to spend considerable time outside the book of Revelation again to fill in many of the gaps