Chapter
35: Judgments & the New Testament (3)
-
The Revelation
Chapter
35 Contents
35.1
Introduction
35.2
A Skeleton Outline
35.3
Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor (Ch.3 &
4)
35.4
The Seven Seals (Ch.6-8)
35.5
The Seven Trumpets (Ch.8-11)
35.6
Figures of Doom (Ch.12-14)
35.7
The Seven Bowls (Ch.15-16)
35.8
The Fall of Babylon and the very end (Ch.17-20)
35.9
Conclusions
35.1
Introduction
And
so we arrive at the end of the Bible to a territory that is as strange
and unknown to many as is the surface of the moon. We move into a
book that is pure prophecy from end to end. The trouble, for many
of us, is that is seems to have many parts and uses many pictures
which have stirred many different schools of interpretation into being.
For the sake of this chapter we will try and avoid interpretations
as much as possible and simply work with what we find in front of
us.
35.2
A Skeleton Outline
The
Outline
Ch.1
Introduction ,
Prologue, Greetings and Jesus among the Seven Churches
Ch.2
& 3 The Letters to the Seven Churches
Ch.4
& 5 The Throne Room in heaven:
the Scroll and the Lamb
Ch.6-8
The Seven Seals
6:1-2
First Seal: The White Horse
6:3-4
Second Seal: The Red Horse
6:5-6
Third Seal: The Black Horse
6:7-8
Fourth Seal: The Pale Horse
6:9-11
Fifth Seal: The Souls under the Altar
6:12-17
Sixth Seal: The Great Earthquake
7:1-8
The Sealing of the 144,000
7:9-17
The Great Multitude
8:1
Seventh Seal: Silence in Heaven
Ch.8-11
The Seven Trumpets
8:2-5
Introduction
8:6-7
First Trumpet: Hail and Fire Mixed with Blood
8:8-9
Second Trumpet: A Mountain Thrown into the Sea
8:10-11
Third Trumpet: The Star Wormwood
8:12-13
Fourth Trumpet: A Third of the Sun, Moon and Stars Struck
9:1-12
Fifth Trumpet: The Plague of Locusts
9:13-21
Sixth Trumpet: Release of the Four Angels
Ch.10
The Angel and the Little Scroll
11:1-14
The Two Witnesses
11:15-19
Seventh Trumpet: Judgments and Rewards
Ch.
12-14 Various Personages and Events
Ch.12
The Woman and the Dragon
Ch.13
The Two Beasts
14:1-5
The Lamb and the 144,000
14:6-20
The Harvest of the Earth
Ch.15
-16 The Seven Bowls
Ch.15
Introduction: The Song of Moses and the Seven Angels with the Seven
Plagues
16:1,2
First Bowl: Ugly and Painful Sores
16:3
Second Bowl: Sea Turns to Blood
16:4-7
Third Bowl: Rivers and Springs of Water Become Blood
16:8,9
Fourth Bowl: Sun Scorches People with Fire
16:10,11
Fifth Bowl: Darkness
16:12-16
Sixth Bowl: Euphrates River Dries Up
16:17-21
Seventh Bowl: Tremendous Earthquake
Ch.17-19
The Fall of Babylon
17:1-18
Babylon 's fall proclaimed
18:1-24
The fall
19:1-5
Praise for its fall
Ch.19-22
The End and the Beginning
19:6-10
Praise for the Lord
19:11-21
Return of the conquering King of Kings
20:1-3
Satan bound for a thousand years
20:4-6
Those who followed the Lamb now in authority
20:7-10
Satan released, deceives nations, and is overthrown
20:11-15
The Final Judgement before the throne of God
(21:1-27
The new heaven, new earth and new city of God
22:1-5
the river of life in the new city
22:6-21
Concluding comments)
Where
Judgments appear
Bear
in mind we have described judgments as decisions of God that are either
disciplinary (corrective) or terminal (last resort). Arguments rage
among commentators as to whether there is a single, linear flow of
activity that follows one after another, or whether different series
of judgments expound or open up previous series. We will not attempt
to differentiate here but simply observe what happens with what effect.
In
that respect chapters 1,4 & 5, 12 & 13, 21 & 22 have no
judgments but most other chapters appear to reveal some forms of judgment.
We will seek to discern the nature of judgments in Ch.3 & 4 and
all the other chapters we have not referred to, but which have an
element of judgment in them.
35.3
Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor
Most
of these seven letters, sent by Jesus to a local church in Asia Minor
, contains an element of corrective warning of discipline as follows
Ref.
|
Church
|
Summary
of failure |
Summary
of Warning |
2:4,5
|
Ephesus
|
You
have forsaken your first love. |
Failure
to repent means removal of the church |
2:8-11
|
Smyrna
|
(No
failure) |
(No
warning) |
2:14-16
|
Pergamum
|
Various
false teaching being tolerated |
Jesus
will come and show them up for what they are |
2:20
|
Thyatira
|
Tolerating
a false prophetess |
Jesus
will deal with her with suffering and those who follow her |
3:1-3
|
Sardis
|
They
are spiritually dead |
Jesus
will come and (implied) deal with them |
3:7-13
|
Philadelphia
|
(No
failure) |
(No
warning) |
3:15-17
|
Laodicea
|
They
are lukewarm and blind |
Jesus
will spit them out |
Thus
two of the local churches simply receive commendation and encouragement
(Smyrna & Philadelphia), one is warned they will be spat out (Laodicea),
one is warned they will be removed if they don't repent (Ephesus),
and the other three are simply warned that Jesus will come and sort
them out if they don't correct what is wrong.
The
object of each letter is to encourage, and challenge and provoke to
repentance where that is necessary. None of them actually speak of
individuals dying, although two of them indicate the possible end
of that particular church's existence. The warnings are intended to
bring correction and change and therefore they are simply warnings
of possible disciplinary judgments.
35.4
The Seven Seals (Ch.6-8)
The
seals in question are on a rolled up scroll that Jesus, the Lamb of
God, is opening. They appear to come as general declarations of intent
and come as follows:
Seal:
|
Ref
|
Judgment
|
First
|
6:1-2
|
White
Horse – a conqueror |
Second
|
6:3-4
|
Red
Horse – to remove peace and bring death |
Third
|
6:5-6
|
Black
Horse – to bring famine |
Fourth
|
6:7-8
|
Pale
Horse - a fourth of the earth killed
by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts |
Fifth
|
6:9-11
|
(a
picture of those martyred for Christ) |
Sixth
|
6:12-17
|
Great
Earthquake – colossal natural upheavals |
Seventh
|
8:1
|
(Silence
in Heaven) |
Between
the 6th and 7th seals is The Sealing of the 144,000 (7:1-8) and The
Great Multitude (7:9-17) both of which are about those who are saved
and are martyrs.
The
five judgments in the list above clearly get worse and worse. There
is no call to repentance, merely a description of the destruction
that is coming on the unsaved world. As such they bring warning to
the world of the general nature of the types of judgment they may
expect.
35.5
The Seven Trumpets (Ch.8-11)
Between
the 6th and 7th trumpets we see The Angel and the Little Scroll (Ch.10)
and the Two Witnesses
(11:1-14)
The judgments as seen in the table above are obviously considerably
worse than anything that has gone before and are quite specific in
nature and may or may not be outworkings of the judgments shown with
the seals. If they are not, then they are simply a second wave of
judgments to come upon the earth.
35.6
Figures of Doom (Ch.12-14)
In
these three chapters we find major events involving mythical figures
who may represent specific historical figures or, some might say,
political or religious movements even.
Chapter
12 is an
overview chapter of war in heaven, Israel being dispersed into the
earth (possibly AD70) and the birth of a man-child (presumably Jesus)
concluding with a dragon (Satan) going off to make war against the
church (presumably what we have seen over the last two thousand years).
As such there are no judgments in this chapter that affect mankind.
Chapter
13 shows
us the dragon (Satan) and then “a beast” who has ‘ten crowned horns'
rather suggesting a bigger movement than just one person. This beast
appears to defeat even the church (see 13:7) and whether this is a
judgment on the lukewarm ‘Laodicean' church or just simply God removing
even the last vestiges of righteous restraint from the earth, only
time will tell. This is followed by another beast with authority who
seems to dominate the world. We might possibly consider life under
this ‘beast' a form of disciplinary judgment for it will obviously
be difficult.
Chapter
14 reveals
heavenly visions, first of God's people in heaven with the Lamb (Jesus),
then of the Gospel going out into the world, then a declaration of
the fall of ‘Babylon', then a warning of judgment on those who worship
the ‘beast', but then of a massive judgment or ‘harvesting' of the
earth although the extent is not specified. Without doubt this is
a major terminal judgment. Seen overall, the chapter has more of a
feeling of an overview of history, anchoring it in to the present
judgments being declared.
Taking
these three chapters together, chapter 12 was clearly
an overview of the battle of heaven, the limitation of Satan, the
existence of the Church and the dispersion of Israel . Chapter
13 reveals figures who may be movements or ideologies that
eventually come under the judgment of God. Chapter 14
again has the overview feel about it taking us on into the end times.
The fact that Chapter 15 clearly speaks about final
judgments suggests that although the previous judgments were bad (and
may be spread over a longer period of history), the ones following
will be within a fairly short period prior to the return of Jesus.
35.7
The Seven Bowls (Ch.15-16)
Chapter
15 introduces
seven ‘plagues' or final judgments and “
with them God's wrath is completed.”
(15:1) If there is chronological order in the prior judgments then,
as we have just said, these appear the last ones prior to the coming
of Jesus as conquering king (in Ch.19). The fact that the first of
this judgments comes on those with the mark of the Beast, clearly
indicates chronological order in that it follows the events of 13:16
Chapter
16 reveals
those ‘plagues' as follows:
Bowl:
|
Ref
|
Judgment
|
First
|
16:1,2
|
Ugly
and Painful Sores |
Second
|
16:3
|
Sea
Turns to Blood |
Third
|
16:4-7
|
Rivers
and Springs of Water Become Blood |
Fourth
|
16:8,9
|
Sun
Scorches People with Fire |
Fifth
|
16:10,11
|
Darkness
|
Sixth
|
16:12-16
|
Euphrates
River Dries Up |
Seventh
|
16:17-21
|
Tremendous
Earthquake |
16:14
clearly indicates this is the run-up to the battle that will ensue
when Jesus comes (Ch.19)
Chapter
17 starts
off with an indication that these particular judgments contribute
to or bring about the downfall of the ungodly affairs of the world
referred to as ‘Babylon': “
One 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. With her the kings of the earth committed
adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the
wine of her adulteries.” (17:1,2)
If Babylon includes unrighteous trade, then it is clear that by the
magnitude of these judgments, all of that trade will be brought to
an end.
35.8
The Fall of Babylon and the very end [prior to the new beginning]
(chapters 17-20)
Chapter
17 sees
Babylon 's fall proclaimed. ‘ Babylon ' appears to be a mix or religious
and general materialistic rejection of God, a conglomerate of leaders
and peoples and ideologies and life and trade, all against God.
Chapter
18 sees
the fall of this conglomerate – clearly a major judgment
Chapter
19 opens
with praise for the fall of Babylon , developing into general praise
for the Lord and then the coming of the conquering king, Jesus.
Chapter
20 sees
Satan bound for a ‘thousand years' then released, deceiving nations
and is finally overthrown. We then have the Final Judgement
before the throne of God before whom all will stand to give
account.
(Chapter
21 is all about the new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem but
has no judgments in it and Chapter 22 is a final conclusion but again,
with no judgment references.)
35.9
Conclusions
a)
Judgments
The
judgments observed through the chapters of this prophecy appear disciplinary
in respect of the seven churches but terminal thereafter.
As
it is difficult to say whether the book is an unrolling time line
or a series of revelations where each one expands on the previous,
the best we can say is that without doubt the book is filled with
a variety of incredible warnings of judgements that will come and
affect the earth disastrously.
It
is also clear that warning are given again and again but they are
very obviously not heeded.
b)
Failure to Heed
In
two particular instances we are shown that whatever seems to be happening,
the general population of the earth refuse to repent:
Rev
9:20,21 The
rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not
repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop
worshiping
demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that
cannot see or hear or walk.
Nor
did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality
or their thefts.
Rev
16:9-11 They
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. The 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 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their
sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
Not
only do these two sets of verses show us the intransigence of the
Sin of the world but the first set also shows us that there was this
insistence of worshipping counterfeit religion (including materialism)
as well as a persistence to live out unrighteous and ungodly lives
involving violence, the occult, unrestrained sex, and disregard for
the property of others.
One
might wonder if two of the final questions the Lord will ask all those
unbelievers who stand before Him on the Final Judgment Day (20:12-15)
might be, “Why did you refuse to be humbled and turn to me when I
brought cause after cause after cause before you to bring you to that
point? Do you not agree that you have no excuse?”
c)
Why this Failure?
How,
we might think, does the world plough on with its unrighteousness
and folly in the face of such terrible catastrophes? The answer, I
suspect is twofold:
Sin
(my defn. – self-centred godlessness) doesn't like being challenged
- “Don't tell me how I should live!”
The
catastrophes don't come with writing in the sky saying, “This is a
Judgment from God – Repent!” The church during this time, although
appearing to remain true, suffers persecution and even death, but
may not be a very clear voice in a world increasingly filled with
‘other voices'.
Perhaps
we should emphasise this latter point, that unless there is a divine
warning, people very often do not realise what is happening. Whether
they would take note if they knew is another question, but the fact
that these judgments seem to continue one after another seems to suggest
that the Lord considers that they should have impact.
d)
And So?
The
purpose of disciplinary judgments, we have said many times, is to
wake people up to their condition and draw them back to God. Clearly
this appears to have some effect because:
when we are given pictures of the saints worshipping
in heaven we find “a great multitude
that no one could count ”, (7:9) though whether that means
all the saints throughout history or is an indicator of those who
turn to the Lord in this period is unclear.
at various times things happen that people recognize
are the hand of God (e.g. 6:16,17, 11:13, 16:21)
there are the two witness of Ch.11 ( Israel and
the Church? 11:3-6) and their death and resurrection (11:11) have
clear impact on the observers.
even
when there is major destruction and major persecution there is a call
for “patient
endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and
remain faithful to Jesus.” (14:12)
so there are still believers on the earth,
there
was also a call to believers to have no part in ‘ Babylon (18:4) but
again whether this applies to all of history or simply throughout
these last years is unclear.
We
should also remind ourselves that throughout the later three quarters
of this book (chapter 6 onwards) it is all taking place as the Lamb
undoes the end-time scroll and the judgments that come, all come clearly
from angels from heaven. There are occasional hints that this is all
taking part as the detailed plan of God (e.g. 10:7
/ 17:17)
There
is nothing chaotic or haphazard about the events seen in this book.
They may appear chaotic from our viewpoint today, but in heaven they
are clearly a step-by-step progression to
•
draw people to God and
•
restrain the works of darkness
and evil
in
the overall process working towards a clear end of a new heaven and
a new earth.
The
ongoing nature of these ‘plagues' or judgments cannot but help remind
us of the ten plagues that the Lord brought on Pharaoh in Moses' day,
again giving Pharaoh opportunity after opportunity to come to his
senses which his hard heart yet rejected. The same appears true of
these last time judgments. The fact that they are there in the book
(and have been there for two thousand years) and go on for so long
with such power and magnitude, must suggest that it is only the hardest
of sin-filled and occult-empowered hearts that could resist.
Therefore
they demonstrate yet again the folly of sinful mankind and the grace
and mercy of God who takes the most severe of measures to try to bring
people to their senses. In eternity there will be no question of His
mercy and His wisdom.
One
might suggest that there are two major purposes to this book of Revelation:
To
reveal the power and sovereignty of God and His ultimate long-term
plans for mankind who will turn to Him, to live with Him in the wonder
of a new heaven and new earth.
To
reveal the shear folly and stupidity of sinful mankind who refuse
to bow the knee in the face of the incredible number of terrible things
that happen within this period of history.
The
more you turn away from trying to understand individual parts of the
book and turn instead to catching the overall impact of it, the more
we are left with a sense of awe in respect of God, shame in respect
of our human race, and anguish over the folly of Sin. May we learn
from these things.
Return
to top of page