Unit: Revelation (Part 3)
Theme: Victory Won
Lesson Text: Revelation 15:1-4; 16:1-12, 15-17
Supplemental Texts: Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 50:8-9; Romans 8:33
Aim: Declare God just.
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By Mark Scott
It is vital to have a just God. When that is not the case, what seems to be nailed down comes loose. If the God of the universe is not just, then there is no standard for behavior. Paul taught that God would need to be found true and every man a liar if that was necessary (Romans 3:4). In the book of Revelation, the justice of God gets worked out in a structure called “progressive parallelism.” That is to say, the book begins several times with the first coming of Christ and moves to the second coming of Christ. This is evident in the growing aggressiveness of the plagues that display God’s justice. They begin with the seals, then move to the trumpets, and finally to the bowls of wrath.
Singing Justice (15:1-4)
John is allowed to see another sign (symbol) in heaven—so this is clearly heaven’s perspective (not necessarily the perspective people see on earth). A complete number of angels come with a complete number of plagues (seven as a number indicating completeness). Note the phrase “with them God’s wrath is completed.” This matches the end of the lesson text when it says, “It is done!” There is another clue that we are at the end of history when later we read, “You who are and who were.” Notice what is missing—the future tense. There is no need to say “who will come” because the Lord has already come.
What John saw precedes what he heard. He saw a splendid picture of the victory of God’s people. The sea of glass was glowing as if on fire. Think beauty and purity. God’s people had by this time gained the victory over the beast (13:1-10), his image (13:11-17), and his number (13:18). The people of God burst forth in song with words very similar to when Moses achieved victory over Pharoah (Exodus 15). The song celebrated the great deliverance of God for his people.
There are three components to this justice tune. First is an acknowledgement of God’s ways and character. His deeds are great and marvelous, and his ways are just and true. Second, there is a rhetorical question with an answer. Who would not fear God and give him glory? After all, he is uniquely “other” (holy). Third, there is predictive prophecy. All the nations would come and worship God. The reason? He is righteous (just).
Watching Justice (16:1-12)
Sometimes Christians have a tough time discerning God’s judgment in a fallen world. It is hard to discern the times with 100% accuracy (Luke 12:56) when believers lack specific details about those judgments. But in Revelation 15-16, Christians are given a front-row seat on the judgments of God. They can watch them unfold through observing the angels with their seven bowls of wrath. Note that the loud voice that gave the command to pour out the bowls came from the temple. The temple was a symbol of God’s presence, so that voice is God’s. There is a pattern to these bowls of wrath. The first three are given, and then an interlude occurs. Then the second set of three are given and a slight interlude again. Finally, the seventh bowl is poured out, which symbolizes the end.
Just as the song of Moses was mentioned in the previous section, so here Moses and the exodus from Egypt is recalled. The first bowl was poured out on the unbelievers, and they ended up with ugly festering sores (This may also make one think of Job 2). The second and third bowls dealt with blood in the waters (Exodus 7:14-25). Another song occurred, once again underlining the justice of God on those who mistreated his people (5b-7).
Bowl four dealt with more than global warming. Fire scorched people, but like those in Revelation 9, nothing moved the people toward repentance. Bowl five dealt with darkness (Exodus 10:21-29). Bowl six dealt with rich flowing rivers like the Euphrates drying up. The east was where the enemies of God’s people came from in ancient Israel. Therefore, it is an image of war and misery.
Justice at Last (16:15-17)
God reminded John of what he said through Christ in the gospels, namely Jesus’ coming would be sudden like that of a thief (Matthew 24:42-44). The call for believers was to remain alert and clothed in good deeds even with all Gehenna breaking loose on earth.
The gathering place for many wars in Israel was Megiddo. It was a strategic mountain near the Valley of Jezreel. But there is really no end-time battle predicted here. Jesus showed up and “It was done!” As we say, “That’s all she wrote.” Justice at last.
Author: Christian Standard
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