Revelation - Chapter 8

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Chapter 8 – The Bowl Judgments

Read chapters 15 and 16

In Apocalyptic writing the numbers 3 and 7 are often used to mean completeness, perfection or finality. Certainly John has brought us to this place of completeness with the three groups of judgment. There were the Seven Seals followed by the Seven Trumpet judgments and now we have the Seven Bowl judgments. We are introduced to seven angels who have seven plagues to be poured down on the people who have accepted the Mark of the Beast. These new plagues will bring to mind the plagues brought upon Egypt in order to set the people of Israel free. They were isolated to that individual nation of Egypt and did not affect the whole world. Then we were introduced to the plagues from the Trumpets and Seals. But those judgments affected only part of the earth. Here we have the completion of the judgments against those who refused to accept God. We should note that those who have received the mark of God as opposed to the Mark of the Beast are exempt from the judgments that are inflicted on a person. Just as God has provided for those who are faithful when the Mark of the Beast refused those same folks to not be able to buy and sell, God will provide for those who are left to face these final judgments. It does not say in scripture that the faithful will not face pain and suffering when food and water supplies get short. We are reminded that our reward will be great in heaven.

As we await the pouring of the bowl judgments upon the earth, we see the Saints standing on a sea of glass (see Rev 4:6) with fire mixed in it and they are singing. They are singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. The Song of the Lamb is sung by those who are martyred for God throughout time while some say that they are the martyred from the Tribulation period alone. The Song of Moses (see Exod 15) was introduced to us when Moses and the Israelites had successfully crossed the Red Sea and they celebrated the drowning of the Pharaoh’s Army by God. It is a song that has been sung repeatedly throughout the history of the people of Israel, used in the dedication of the new Temple after the Babylonian Exile (Psalm 118) and then at major holidays since till our present day. It is a song of celebration of what God has done. The song of the Lamb is also a celebration to God. But we should notice that at no time in the words of the song is anyone other than God praised.

In verse five we are told that the angels come from within the Temple of the Tent of Witness. John may well have has pulled this descriptive from the Old Testament understanding in Exodus when the Temple of God was a tent with the Israelites in the wilderness before Solomon’s Temple was built (Numbers 9:15; 17:7; 18:2). The Temple fills with smoke (see Isa 6:4; Ezek 10:4) as God moves within it and the Angels come forward to do God’s bidding. One of the four living creatures we were introduced to in the beginning of John’s Revelation hands the bowls to the angels. Remember that the four living creatures represent the best in heaven. The seven bowls are filled with the full wrath of God. What we glean from this is that these judgments are the final judgments against the people, the demons and the Beast who have aligned themselves with the lawless one.

The first angel steps forward and unleashes the first bowl on the people of the earth who have taken the Mark of the Beast. They develop painful sores that cause them to desire to be dead and yet they cannot die. We are reminded of the 6^th plague in Egypt (Exod. 9: 8-12) and the story of Job (Job 2:7). The second Angel steps forward and pours the second bowl into the sea. Some would argue that this is strictly the Mediterranean Sea but most would argue that at this point the plagues are world-wide. Imagine the stench and the destruction of food supplies and world-wide commerce when all the animals of the oceans die and rise up to the surface. We are reminded of the 1^st plague that God brought upon the Egyptian people (Exod. 7: 14-25). The third Angel pours the third bowl into the waters of the world’s rivers and springs and they turn to blood. Our water supply for crops, drinking and other uses are now ruined. We are told that this in retribution for the blood of the Saints who have been martyred by the world. Now we come the fourth Angel and the fourth bowl. This will be the final bowl judgment upon the living people directly. The bowl is poured out and the sun becomes dangerous to those exposed to its light. Imagine for a moment that without water the world becomes a parched, hot, and hostile environment. Some have argued that these are all done through nature as God has continuously done throughout the history of the world. We have red tides (see news for Florida in September 2014) where algae contaminates the water, killed off sea life, and left a blood like look to the water. Some might point to the current dangers of Global warming as the fulfillment of this prophecy of the sun. I suspect that these are all future events since even the Preterists cannot point to specific events in the past that align themselves with the Bowl Judgments.

We now reach the point where God will turn the wrath of God on the Beast and the Dragon. The fifth bowl is poured on the very throne of the Beast. It brings total darkness to the residence of the evil force John calls the Beast, also known as the Anti-Christ. There is some discussion here about exactly where this will be. If we are Preterists and we believe that Nero was the beast then we should be able to look back and find an event that fits this during his reign. Some say it is when Rome burned and the sun was obliterated by the smoke. Futurists on the other hand point to this as a future event but argue whether the throne will be in rebuilt Babylon near present day Baghdad, Rome or even Jerusalem. Saddam Hussein had in fact begun construction at the site of ancient Babylon, the capital city of the Babylonian Empire. For those pointing to Jerusalem they argue that the Anti-Christ taking up resident in the Temple is the true desecration of the Temple described in Luke 21: 20-21. Preterist’s look to Antiochus IV but this was well before Jesus prophecy. This reminds us of the 5^th trumpet and the 9^th plague on Egypt (Exod 10:21-23) We are told that men curse God but that no-one repents.

The sixth bowl is poured out on the Euphrates River and it dries the river up. The people of the John’s time would look to the Euphrates as the edge of the known civilized world and as a natural barrier to the forces that lived beyond it. Here we are introduced to two new actors in this vision, the False Prophet and the King of the East. The False Prophet is believed to be the little horn in earlier prophecy (Daniel 7:8; Rev 13) and most folks believe this to be either symbolism for the Roman Catholic Church or the Head of the church during Tribulation. The king of the East may be a literal presence or symbolism for the evil forces that will gather depends on your world view at this point. Futurists take this literally and believe that this will be a King from China with an army that moves towards Israel. At this point the Dragon and the Beast are desperate so they deceive the armies of the world to begin to assemble to go to war with God in a place the NRSV calls Harmagedon. Literally that would mean the Mountain or Hill of Megiddo which is a real place. The valley of Megiddo has been the center of battles throughout history with at least 34 major battles for control of the trade routes to the East and Middle East. In Biblical times we have the stories of Barak (Judges 4), Gideon (Judges 6:3), Saul’s death (1^st Samuel 31:8), and then in history Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15^th century, Napoleon and battles in World War I. Napoleon described the valley as the most natural battlefield in all the world.  Here the final confrontation will occur. I dare not call it a battle since you will see that it is one sided in favor of Jesus.  (Zechariah 12 & 14; Zephaniah 3:8; Isa 24)

The seventh and final bowl judgment is poured out on the air. It is the final bowl judgment and the final of the 3 groups of God’s wrath. Ephesians 2: 2 describes the Devil as the Prince of the Air. It is quite likely that John is aware of that description here. In that moment there is a great earthquake in the great city. Again there is disagreement whether this is Rome, Babylon, or Jerusalem. The city is torn in thirds and all the cities (probably a reference to all the major cities) of all nations will fall. The people are then confronted with large hailstones weighing as much as 100 pounds (7^th plague on Egypt Exod 9:22-26) that cause them again curse God without repentance.

So ends the judgments phase for those living.

Revelation - Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 – The Red Dragon

Read Chapter 12 - Chapter 14

We begin this chapter with great imagery of the period that most scholars call the Great Tribulation. But as with any story we may need some background information. Chapter 12 is really the background we need to move to the end of the story and the introduction of the players for that period of time. It doesn’t particularly matter what view you have of John’s Revelation to understand chapter 12 since the imagery is for all time. Whether the great battle described happens at the beginning of the world or during the Resurrection makes little difference to the outcome but it does at least explain to us the basic story we already know well. Christ is Lord and Savior through the crucifixion and resurrection and that His death and resurrection overcomes death by sin and He alone now carries the keys of death. Satan’s frustration at the cross must have been tremendous when we think that at the moment of death he, Satan believing that he had won and was victorious, learned that he truly was defeated. I believe in those moments following Jesus death, when He descends into Hell, as the creeds tell us, and has secured the keys for all time Satan realizes his peril. So let’s meet the players.

We first are introduced to the woman who is clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars surrounding her head. She is pregnant. So who is she? The vast majority of those that study the Bible indicate that she represents Israel. More specifically they point to Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9 where Jacob is the sun, Rachel is the Moon and the Stars are their sons, the tribes of Israel. ^NRS  Genesis 37:9 He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, "Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." The mother is pregnant with a son who is universally explained to be Jesus. Jesus comes from the lineage of Israel. Roman Catholics believe that the woman is Mary, mother of Jesus and though we can also see that as a possibility the imagery here would suggest a broader understanding like the nation of Israel.

We are introduced to the second great figure of the Apocalypse, the Great Red Dragon. John paints us an image of a creature with seven heads, ten horns and 7 diadems on each head and a tail that sweeps 1/3 of the stars from heaven to earth. We have met this great dragon before in Genesis 3:1 as the serpent, in Job as the Devil and in Isaiah as the morning star. Some of the commentary argues that Satan was the greatest of angels until he wanted to place himself equal or above God. More on this in a moment! There is of course discussion about the image itself though as I said, it is universally accepted that we are talking about Satan. When Satan was sent from heaven he was given dominion over the earth. As we get into the 7 heads and ten horns we get some disagreement between Preterist and Futurist. Preterists believe that the seven heads are the Seven Hills of Rome and so the Red Dragon represents the Roman Empire of John’s Day. In fact Rome is built on seven hills and at the time of John’s writing which we believe to somewhere between 69 AD and 96 AD there will be a total of ten emperors before Rome begins its divide. Based on that the Preterist historical thought is that the ten horns are the ten emperors of Rome, the sixth being Nero and the tenth being Vespasian. In between these two are three rulers, Galba, Otho and Vitellius who combined ruled for about 1 ½ years from July 68 AD to December 69 AD. More on these three’s significance in the Revelation later! I had difficulty here finding consensus among the Futurists about the image of Satan other than all agreed that we are meeting Satan in this imagery. In the scripture Satan wants to devour the child as the child is a threat to his dominion and power. The child must be defeated if Satan has any hope of defeating the forces of good.

The woman gives birth and the child is taken up into heaven out of the Devil’s reach. We are told that the child will rule with an iron rod which leads us back to Psalm 2:9 ^NRS  Psalm 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Preterists believe that the birth pangs represent the persecution and suffering of the nation of Israel up to the time of Jesus birth. Now it gets a little interesting here as to how to interpret the events that take place in the next few verses. We are told that the child, who is universally accepted as being Jesus, is taken up into heaven. Are we talking about a literal event which clearly would point to the Ascension through the resurrection or are we talk about a metaphorical summary of the fact that Jesus is beyond the reach of the Devil? What we are told is that the woman escapes to the wilderness for 1,260 days or 42 months. Preterists point to three different historical events that fit this picture. During the Greek rule of Israel Antiochus Epiphanes conquers Jerusalem around 170 BC and included in that destruction is a desecration of the Temple itself. The entire campaign lasted 42 months. During that crusade many of the Jewish people fled into the wilderness. The second story is the Jewish-Roman war from March 67 AD to September 70 AD. During this 42 month campaign which ends with the destruction of the Temple, the people also fled into the wilderness because of what Jesus had told them (see Matt 24: 15-21). And the final scenario which fits this passage is Nero’s persecution of the Jews from November 64 AD to June 68 AD. Futurists on the other hand believe this period to be the second half of the Tribulation period when Satan has free reign. They base this on the prophecy in Daniel, ^NRS  Daniel 11:41 He shall come into the beautiful land, and tens of thousands shall fall victim, but Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites shall escape from his power.

We now arrive at the story of the battle in heaven. Does this occur at the beginning of time as most believe or is the telling of the story at the time of the resurrection? Preterists almost universally agree that this is a telling at the time of the resurrection. They base their belief on the idea found in John 12:31 ^NRS  John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. They believe that prior to this moment Satan has access to heaven as we find in the story of Job, where we see Satan appearing to freely move in and out of heaven. If this is in fact that period of time it would explain the anger of Satan towards the people of God. Having lost the great battle at the crucifixion and resurrection Satan begins in earnest to wage war on the Church. Satan pursues the woman (nation of Israel) but cannot catch her and so he begins to attack the children of the woman. Again there appears to be consensus among the views that the children are either Jews or the Christian church or both.

In dispensationalist thought, we have reached the halfway point of the Great Tribulation. Here we are introduced to a new player. In chapter 13 the Dragon stands on the sea and a beast arises out of the sea with seven heads, ten horns and ten diadems on each horn. The beast is like a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. Here again we have a disagreement as to the meaning of the beast that we see. Preterists believe the 7 head are the 7 hills of Rome and the 10 horns are the ten emperors up to and including Vespasian. They believe that the blasphemous names are in fact the idea that the emperors declare themselves to be God and demand that they people worship them as such. Some Preterists believe the ten horns are the ten alliances of the Old Roman Empire when it fell held loosely together by the Papacy in Rome. In Futurists thought, the sea represents the nations or Gentiles and that the ten horns are a ten nation alliance which will form prior to tribulation possibly from the old Roman Empire. The beast is the Anti-Christ that will emerge from within the New Empire which originates from the Old Roman Empire (see Daniel’s two visions, chapter 2). Some futurists believe that the Beast is the collection of the cultures from all three prior generations based on Daniel’s vision. Whatever you believe it is not a good time for the Christians.   

Satan gives the beast full power just as God has given Christ full authority in heaven and earth. We have this interesting issue where one of the heads is mortally wounded and then apparently resurrected causing the world to worship the Beast. In Preterist thought this is the death of Nero and the rising of Vespasian who brings order back to Rome and is the ruler who causes the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Dispensationalists point to an event where the Anti-Christ will be mortally wounded and then resurrected causing many to believe that he is in fact the Messiah. The beast has authority for 42 months where he makes war on the Christian church and wins those earthly battles. During this time, there will be consolidation of power and a One World Government.  To the Preterist’s, this was a time when Rome had conquered the entire known world and was under Roman domination.

During this time, another lessor beast appears that is inferior to the first beast with two horns looking like the lamb. Futurists believe this beast to be the Roman Catholic Church or even the Papacy itself. They glean this from the idea that the Lamb is Jesus so the two horned lamb would be the church. This beast will have great power including the building of an idol statue to the first beast and gives it breath. I am reminded of the story in Daniel of the great statue of Nebuchadnezzar that all were required to bow down and worship.

We come now to one of the frightening pieces of the Apocalypse for most people, the control of the world finances and the ability to prevent people from buying and selling. The mark of the beast has been discussed throughout the generations. Interestingly Preterists point to Nero while Futurists point to the Anti-Christ. The mark of the beast from the Preterist view is the stamped image on the coins of the Roman Empire and a requirement to use only Roman coinage to purchase or sell. Craig C. Hill suggests that it may well represent the total economic power of Rome where even the coins themselves become idolatry to the Christians. The Idealist point to the fact that 666 could represent many different people and so this is in fact simply a universal number. The fact that 6 is one less than the perfect number 7 indicates that it is simply representative of the evil in the world. The futurists point to the idea of a super currency where we cannot purchase and sell without having that currency in our possession. They point to the idea of the current global economy as indicative of this idea and they also point to technologies like bar coding and the microchip. Two points of hope if you follow any of these lines of thinking. It does not say that Christians will starve, simply that they will not be able to buy or sell. And likewise there will be no doubt that you have made a choice to stand against God to receive whatever the mark is.

Chapter 14 begins with the image of Christ on Mt. Zion. Most believe that He is in heaven at this moment looking down as He begins His descent for the Second Coming. But prior to that he seals 144,000 blameless witnesses. There is great discussion about who these witnesses are. Futurists believe they are Jews and they represent the final push to bring the nation of Israel back to God. Preterists believe that they represent the Christian church or some perfect number of witnesses down through the ages that have brought countless souls to Christ. Some, like the Jehovah Witnesses believe this is the final number of those who reside with Christ in heaven. But once these witnesses have the opportunity to do their job, judgment comes in the imagery of the sickle and the wine press.

Revelation - Chapter 6

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Chapter 6 – The Seven Trumpet Judgments

Read Chapter 8:6 – chapter 11

Trumpets in the Bible represent a number of things. In Numbers trumpets represent God calling the people together, they represent war, or they can represent God calling them to a special time. Trumpets are representative of God proclaiming something or judgment. In John’s Revelation Trumpets signal the coming judgments upon the people of the world. Remember that the silence before the last Seal was preceded by the marking of God’s people that they will be given power over tribulation. Those that are marked in all views are those who will see at least parts of tribulation. Dispensationalists believe that the church has been removed during the “Rapture” and that the marked or sealed are those who find faith after the Rapture.

The seven trumpets will happen in the first half of tribulation. Tribulation will be a seven year period for Preterists and Futurists. We will see that the first four trumpets use natural forces to bring the judgments. God uses natural forces often to bring about God’s judgment. Idealists believe that the Seven Trumpet judgments represent God’s judgment across time. Preterists will point to historical events when they discuss the judgments and Dispensationalists will point to events yet to come. The seven trumpet judgments will parallel the plagues God brought on Egypt prior to the wilderness.  So let us look at the Seven Trumpet Judgments

The first judgment brings Hail and Fire mixed with Blood. This matches the actions of the Lord in Exodus against the Egyptians in Exodus 9:22-26. The actions of the judgment will destroy 1/3 of the earth, 1/3 of the trees and all the green grass. One might ask what they significance of the green grass but one only has to remember that many of our domesticated meat animals graze on grass. No grass, no more animals, and subsequently food supplies will be impaired. Preterists point to the Roman invasion of Israel beginning in 63 AD. The Roman army burned the majority of the trees in Israel during that invasion.

The second judgment brings something like a great mountain that falls in the sea. John makes the distinction between this and the next judgment which is a star. Scholars believe that this could be a meteor or possibly a volcanic eruption. The results are that 1/3 of the waters become blood, 1/3 of all sea creatures die, and 1/3 of the ships are destroyed. Certainly the effects of a volcano would cause this kind of catastrophic effect in the geographic region of the volcano. Depending on the writing of the Revelation, this could be the destruction of Pompeii which happened in 79 AD. The volcano explosion and ash did in fact destroy much of the sea, economy and the dust affected the Middle Eastern world for several months.

The third judgment unleashes a star called wormwood upon the earth. This could well be an asteroid because it impacts 1/3 of the rivers of the world. Note that all of these visions impact the world. The question is what world? The world of John which would be isolated to the Middle East centered on the Mediterranean Sea. Or it could well be a vision of the entire world which of course fits the Dispensationalist view of the End of Times. Wormwood is another name for a bitter root called Artemisia. It is often used to repel insects or is used as an ingredient in brewing. So to say that the rivers and springs become wormwood may mean that they become bitter. Sulfur is often a problem for wells and springs as well which causes a bitter taste and would cause problems with the water supply. As a side note, there is currently a Project Wormwood at Learmonth Observatory in Australia. Any foreign object identified as on a collision course with earth will be earmarked Wormwood. We have had several near calls with asteroids and of course, meteors fall every day.

The fourth trumpet sounds and 1/3 of the moon, sun and stars are blacked out. In fact so much so that it indicates that 1/3 of the day is darkened. Whether this is a consequence of the third trumpet or some new phenomena only time will tell us. Certainly any kind of volcanic eruption or any collision with a celestial body would cause widespread changes to the atmosphere and it is not unreasonable to expect that daylight could be hampered.

Again between the fourth and fifth judgments we have a pause. Here we are introduced to the Eagle which is possibly the Eagle that John saw sitting around the throne. The Eagle proclaims three woes which are the final trumpet judgments that will come upon the earth. We also note that we again transition from natural types of disasters to demonic ones.

In the fifth trumpet judgment, we see a star that has fallen to the earth. It is likely that John is describing Satan after his fall from heaven, and it is Satan who has the key to the bottomless pit. Some say that this is Jesus because only Jesus has the key to heaven and hell.  In ancient Hebrew understanding the bottomless pit is where the angels who had rose up against God have been sealed. A literal interpretation would indicate that they are now unleashed upon the world. These locust/ scorpion figures serve a master called Abaddon (which means destruction in the Hebrew) or Apollyon (which means to destroy in the Greek). So we can assume that John intended us to understand this leader to be simply “The Destroyer.” Interesting connection to Job here in that the unsealed folks of the world are inflicted in such pain that they cry out to die but cannot do so and parallels the infliction of boils on Job by the Devil to try and get him to renounce God. This will last for five long months. Prelists point to the siege of Jerusalem as fitting this vision. The siege lasted five months prior to Titus destroying that great city and the Temple.

In the sixth trumpet judgment the angels who are bound at the Euphrates are released. In the ancient world the Euphrates was at the end of civilization as they understood it. I remember as a child we would often use the expression when you came out of the city that you had left civilization for the wilderness of the county. 1/3 of humankind will be killed by the four angels who may or may not be the original four horsemen. The army is 200 million strong. Dispensationalists point to the army of China that was reported in the 1990’s to be 200 million strong. This may or may not be a literal interpretation especially when one focuses in the description of the horses and armor of the warriors. What is significant is verse 20 that indicates that even this did not cause the rest of humankind to repent. Dispensationalists point to this verse as an indication that the church is no longer in the world. Preterists and Idealists simply argue that this verse indicates those already sealed are not in this number.

Here we have another pause. A mighty angel comes out of heaven. Note the imagery of this angel, wrapped in a cloud with a rainbow over his head. Most scholars would agree that this angel may well be Jesus. Likely no other angel in heaven would have the authority and power to set his foot equally on the sea and the land other than Jesus. Remember the story of the Exodus and how God’s voice sounded like thunder. We have the seven thunders who John must well understand since he is told not to write down what he has heard. There are some things that God does not want us to know until it is time.

To measure the Temple is an indication that time is close to the end. When we buy a new home one of the final things that happens is the surveyor comes and checks the authenticity of the measuring of the property. The Temple will be given over to the people and it will be trampled for forty two months. There are two thoughts that are important to the study here. Preterists will point to the time of Daniel when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple from June 168 BC to Dec 165 BC. That happens to be exactly forty two months. Dispensationalists argue that this is mid-way into the tribulation. What is important for those who believe these are future events is that the Temple must be rebuilt. There are claims that plans and materials are already in place in 2014 to make that a reality.

We have now the two witnesses. Who are they? We have clues in verse 4. They are two of the olive trees and the two lampstands. Preterists would point to the two lampstands as tow of the churches and these two may well represent the two larger churches, Jewish and Gentile. Dispensationalists argue that they are two literal people, some saying Enoch and Elijah because neither died here on earth but were taken by God. Others argue that one of them is Moses and the other Elijah, the law and the prophets. What is important in the vision is that they will prophesize for 42 months. During that time will some come to Christ? Some believe that they are the proclaimers of judgment to the unfaithful world. Regardless of what you believe we hear plainly in scripture that the Beast kills them at the end of the 42 month period. They will lie in plain view for 3 ½ days for the whole world to see. Then God will resurrect them and take them in to heaven. At that moment the city of Jerusalem will go through a severe earthquake and seven thousand will be killed. This is probably not a literal number but a complete number meaning many. The current population of Jerusalem is 857,000 and 1/10^th of that would be 85,700.

The seventh trumpet sounds and we have this vision of heaven. We have the praise of all the saints, the elders and the angels proclaiming God’s love, power and grace. One could easily have ended the Revelation here but there is still more to be said. God’s temple is in plain view and we have the image of the Ark of the Covenant. Is this the Ark that was in the Temple of Solomon or more likely this is the image of Christ for the world to see. I used to remember when I was a child that the threat of when Dad would get home was often more excruciating than the actual punishment he gave. Here the world has to endure the final judgments with heaven in full view of what they have forsaken.

So ends the Seven Trumpet Judgments.