Revelation 15: The Glory Enters the Temple

Today’s reading is Revelation 15.

The Tabernacle

Most people think the climax of the Exodus story is when Israel crosses the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army drowns in Exodus 14. Nope! That’s an important part, no doubt. But not the most important part.

The entire book of Exodus revolves around the question of whether or not the Lord will dwell with Israel. It begins with the problem that they cannot worship the Lord properly while in Egypt. Will the Lord get them out of Egypt so He can dwell with them? He does.

Then we move to the Lord’s covenant with Israel. But immediately, they craft an idol. The Lord declares He will send an angel, but He won’t go with them. Moses intercedes. The Lord says He will go with Israel. But will He?

For Him to travel with them, they must make a tent. It must be made to the exact right specifications. Moses records receiving the instructions. Then he records the building of the tabernacle exactly as it was instructed.

Then the important moment arrives. The tabernacle is erected. Then…

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35, ESV).

The First Temple

Israel enters the promised land. The road is really rocky after that. A generation comes and a generation goes. A generation follows God and a generation rebels against God. God sends punishers. God sends deliverers. Eventually, the confederacy of tribes is made a kingdom. The tabernacle is still the dwelling place of the Lord among them.

Then Solomon, with instructions from the Lord, retires the tabernacle and builds a permanent structure. He builds a temple.

The priests carry the ark of the covenant into the Most Holy Place. Then…

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD (1 Kings 8:10-11, ESV)

The Second Temple

Israel abandons the Lord. The Lord abandons His dwelling place. In Ezekiel, the prophet witnesses a vision of the glory of the Lord leaving the temple and Jerusalem. Then, before the book ends, he sees a vision of hope. The glory of the Lord will return.

After Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, the Lord allows His people back into the promised land. They are allowed to rebuild His house. There is opposition. The people stall out. The Lord rebukes them with prophets. They finally start again.

Under Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, they finally complete the second temple. They have an incredible dedication with an amazing number of sacrifices. Then…

They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses (Ezra 6:17-18, ESV)

Wait! What? That doesn’t seem right. Where is the glory of the Lord? Wasn’t it supposed to return? Not only does it not, the writer twists the knife by showing the exact opposite of the previous two texts. Instead of the priests not being able to work for a while, they got those priests working right away.

The HEavenly Temple

Now we are ready to read Revelation 15:7-8:

And 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, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels was finished (ESV).

The Lord is in His holy temple. Yes, the angels are pouring out bowls of fury-filled wine and plagues upon the earth, but the glory of the Lord is in His dwelling place. He is with His people.

He is smack in the middle of that measured temple (see Revelation 11:1-3). He is the glory in our midst and the wall of fire about us (see Zechariah 2:1-13). Yes, judgment comes. But the Lord’s people will endure by His grace, strength, power, and Holy Spirit.

Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Revelation 16.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Revelation 15?

Revelation 15: Bowls of God’s Wrath

Today’s reading is Revelation 15.

The Final Cycle Begins

We’ve seen seven oracles to seven churches, seven seals, and seven trumpets. We almost saw seven thunders, but John was told not to write their messages down. Now we come to the final seven cycle in this apocalypse: the seven bowls of God’s wrath.

The picture is summarized in Revelation 15: 1:

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished (ESV).

The seven angels have seven plagues. Those plagues are the completion, the filling up to the full, of God’s wrath. In other words, for all we’ve seen in this amazing vision, get ready because we ain’t seen nothing yet.

Bowls of Wrath

As if the plagues the seven angels had were not enough, in Revelation 15:7, one of the four living creatures give the angels each a bowl “full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever” (ESV). The concept of a bowl, vial, or cup of God’s wrath was an ancient prophetic picture. Perhaps the most well-known cup of wrath picture is found in Jeremiah 25. In the days of Jeremiah’s preaching, the Lord came to him once and said:

Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them (Jeremiah 25:15-16, ESV).

Then you shall say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you” (Jeremiah 25:27, ESV).

And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts” (Jeremiah 25:28-29, ESV).

In Psalm 75:7-8:

But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs (ESV).

Similarly, in Isaiah 51:17:

Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering (ESV).

There are others, but you get the picture. As God mixed wine of His wrath against ancient cities and kingdoms, including His own, He mixes the wine of His wrath with the plagues of these seven angels. His wrath will be spent in this coming cycle.

The WinePress of His Wrath

I know it seems weird to hear these angels already each had a plague. They could simply toss the plague down on the earth. In fact, when we read what the seven angels cause, we will be reminded of the 10 plagues on Egypt in Exodus. However, God wanted those original readers to know how strong a judgment was coming.

Further, this is a vision. God had already started a picture, He now completes it. In Revelation 14:19-20, the one angel had swung his sickle across the earth and gathered up the grapes. These grapes were thrown into the winepress of the wrath of God. We talked about that last week. The winepress is trodden and the wine of God’s fury, that is the blood flowed out.

Now the seven angels with seven plagues will receive seven bowls full of this very wine. We will not discuss now what happens when that plague-mixed wine is poured out on the earth. I’m guessing you can already imagine it won’t be pretty. Actually, I hope you already know how awful it is. After all, you should have read this entire book way back when we began. If you haven’t done it yet, do it this week.

JEsus and the Cup of God’s Wrath

I hope as we talk about bowls of wrath, vials of wrath, and cups of wrath, you couldn’t help but think of the prayer Jesus offered in Gethsemane.

Do you recall Jesus’s prayer?

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:39, ESV)

In John 18:11, John recorded Jesus rebuking Peter for trying to start a war against those who came out to arrest Him. He said:

Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? (ESV)

Whether you picture the cup Jesus drinks as merely a cup of suffering or as fully drinking the cup of God’s wrath and fury, I hope as we read Revelation and are horrified by the cups/bowls of wrath poured out, we can recall Jesus drank the cup of the cross to save us from the bowls of wrath. In other words, God does not watch the angels pour out the wine of His wrath with glee. He has done all to save all from the judgment.

However, and this is really hard for us to grasp, God is a God of good boundaries. If we don’t actually want Him, He won’t force Himself upon us. If we will not drink His cup of salvation, we will drink the cup of His wrath.

Let us praise Jesus for drinking His cup, that we might be saved from ours.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 15.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 15 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Psalm 58: Judge Jesus

Today’s reading is Psalm 58.

On Friday, we like to find Jesus in the Psalms. We indeed find Jesus in Psalm 58. However, be aware, most people don’t like the Jesus we find in Psalm 58. We don’t find baby Jesus, lying in a manger, shepherds visiting him by night. We don’t find toddler Jesus, living in a house, visited and worshiped by wise men. We don’t find adolescent Jesus, demonstrating wisdom beyond His years, conversing with elders and rabbis in the temple. We don’t find adult Jesus, telling parables, healing the sick, forgiving sins. We don’t even find crucified Jesus, hanging on the cross, praying for His persecutors.

We find Judge Jesus. We find the rider on the white horse from Revelation 19:11-16:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fined linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

In Psalm 58, we find the Lord Jesus “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, ESV). People don’t like this Jesus. Even Christians don’t like this Jesus. But we must remember Jesus the conquering King. In His first trip to earth, He conquered sin, death, and Satan. In His return, He will conquer those who prefer sin, death, and Satan. Those who impenitently continue to practice injustice, violence, and sin will be judged in the wrath of God.

Do not envision Jesus as the boogey-man with whom we can frighten kids (or adults) into obedient submission. But know this: Judge Jesus is coming. King Jesus is coming. You have a choice. Keep Jesus at arm’s length, follow your own path, pursue sin. Or you can enlist in His army. But beware, while some in that white-garbed army will be the elders who cast down their golden crowns (Revelation 4:4), the faithful from churches like Sardis (Revelation 3:4-5), and the penitent from churches like Laodicea (Revelation 3:18), many who make up the army will be those martyrs given white robes when told to wait for the justice Judge Jesus will bring on those who killed them (Revelation 6:9-11).

We find Jesus in Psalm 58. When we find Him, we learn “surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Next week’s reading is Psalm 59.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Psalm 58?

The Lord Laughs

Today’s reading is Psalm 2.

It is not easy to see, but there is an all out war going on. It has been going on since the dawn of time. It began with Satan’s attack in the Garden, twisting and manipulating Eve to abandon the Lord. It continued throughout Israel’s history. It even was being waged as Jesus entered the world and left it. It is still going on today. For the most part, it is a battle going on behind the scenes. On the surface, we just see people making decisions about whether or not to obey God. We just see people making decisions about how to treat people who are obeying God. But underneath that and behind the scenes there is actually a spiritual battle royale being fought over our very souls. It is complete with spiritual kings and princes (see Daniel 10:13), rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 6:12). When we begin to think about it and realize the truth of the battlefield on which we stand, it can be quite overwhelming. We can begin to wonder how we can ever win. But remember this. Our King sees and surveys the entire battlefield. He knows we are right in the middle of it. And He laughs. He doesn’t laugh at our predicament. He laughs at the enemy’s predicament. He knows how it will end. After all, remember the greatest attack the enemy launched happened on a Friday afternoon 2000 years ago. On Saturday, it looked like the enemy had won. But our King was chortling on His throne, snickering, practically guffawing at the enemy’s coming demise. And on Sunday morning the fullness of God’s counterattack became clear. Our enemy can’t win. Even when our enemy puts our King to death, our enemy can’t win. It doesn’t matter what our enemy plans and even how bad it looks in our life right now, the Lord laughs at his plans and attacks. Hang on to the Lord, I promise, when the whole war is done, we will be laughing together with Him. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 2.