Revelation 15: 1-8

(Revelation 15: 1-8)

And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Revelation introduces the seven churches in Asia Minor in chapters 2~3, and then shows the scene of worship in heaven where God's people will ultimately enter in chapters 4~5. And the beginning of Chapters 6 to 16, as the main subject of the book of Revelation, showed the judgment contained in the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. However, between the words of the judgment, words that seem to have nothing to do with judgment are inserted. It is not a word that has nothing to do with judgment, but a word that is very closely related.

In other words, in the judgment contained in the seven seals, after the sixth seal was sounded, and in the judgment contained in the seven trumpets, the words inserted after the sixth trumpet were sounded. In verse 6:17, the answer to ``Who can stand in the great day of wrath?'' and the second inserted word about the small scroll and the two witnesses is in verse 9:21, In answer, I am saying that there are those who repent through the witness of the gospel. Therefore, we can see that the words in the book of Revelation were written in close connection with one another, centered on God's judgment.

There is a pattern in the story of the Seven Judgments. The first is the symbolic meaning contained in the numbers. God's judgment has unity as the number seven, which means that the number 7 means that God's judgment is complete, and the first four of the seven judgments have unity, which means that the number 4 is the object of judgment. It means that it is whole, so no one can escape from God's judgment.

The second is to explain the exodus-class event, which is the background of the ten plagues of Exodus, as the relationship between the church and Satan. In other words, looking at the phenomena that appear in the judgment contained in the seven trumpets and the seven bowls, we know that a situation similar to the ten plagues of Exodus is unfolding, such as hail, fire, change of blood, bitter water, darkness, yellow insects, poisonous species, and frogs. I can. This is to explain God's judgment and salvation through the Exodus event. Third, the intensity of judgment is getting stronger.

In the judgment contained in the seven seals, the judgment comes upon a quarter of the creature, and in the judgment contained in the seven trumpets, it comes upon 1/3 of the creature. It can be seen that the target and strength of are getting stronger. After all, the story of the seven judgments provides comfort, encouragement, and hope to those who are in Christ, but a warning and judgment to those who are outside Christ. The reason this judgment is repeated three times is to give him a chance to repent.

『 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 』

Here, the last plague means that the seven angels have seven plagues, and it means the judgment contained in the seven bowls. Now when the seven bowls are poured out, there is no further judgment after that. To say that there is no more judgment means that there is no more opportunity to repent. Since the purpose of the judgment is not on the judgment itself, it contains warnings, so that judgment is in progress means that there is still an opportunity to repent. However, after the judgment in the seven bowls is over, there is no more chance to repent, since only the final judgment remains after that.

A sea of glass mixed with fire comes out, and as to who stands in the sea of glass, the beast, his idol, and those who have overcome the number of his names and escaped, that is, the saints, stand. And they are standing in the sea of glass, singing the song of Moses the servant of God, the song of the Lamb, and praising and worshiping God with the harp of God. This image reminds me of the appearance of Moses and the Israelites singing along the Red Sea after crossing the Red Sea. In the end, it shows the figure of a saint who defeats the enemy and sings a song of victory.

Seven angels with seven plagues emerge from the temple of the heavenly testimony. They are dressed in bright, fine linen, and have a gold belt around their chest. Then, one of the four living creatures delivers seven golden bowls full of God's wrath to the seven angels. Then, a loud voice was heard from the temple, and he ordered the seven angels to pour out the golden bowl. And now the final judgment contained in the seven bowls begins in chapter 16.

『 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 』 The gold bowl given by one of the four living creatures to the seven angels is filled with the wrath of the ever-living God. However, according to the original 5:8, the bowl of gold contained the prayers of the saints. But in the text, the golden bowl is filled with God's wrath. In 8:5, the prayers of the saints are described as the incense placed on the throne of God, and the censer containing the incense was filled with fire and poured into the ground, which means that God's judgment came. Through this word, the message given to the saints is that the prayers of the saints who suffer by witnessing the word of God and the gospel of Christ are directly connected to God's wrath against the people of the world who persecuted them.

God does not turn away from the prayers of suffering believers and is the one who answers prayers. God is listening to the prayers of the saints. However, God's judgment does not last forever. God's judgment is not an end in itself, but a warning. So, God's judgment has an end. If there is anything that needs to be turned back before the warning through the judgment ends, it is the fact that one day must repent and turn back. As soon as we realize, we must turn back. Otherwise, in the future, you may no longer be given a chance to turn back.

Today, when we do evangelism, we say "believe in Jesus and be saved." They try to persuade and explain, and try to get the other person's intellectual consent. But if you don't repent, the Lord will say, "I don't know you." We must produce the proper fruits of repentance. In the last days, the Lord does not see the faith accumulated until judgment, but sees the proper fruits of repentance. Repentance is not spoken in words, but it means true repentance is being converted into actions worthy of repentance.