Revelation Chapter 15

Lest we forget, we’ve had 7 seals opened and 7 trumpets have sounded. Back in Rev. 9, the 6th trumpet sounded and all kinds of weird, scary, catastrophic events occurred. Then, in Rev. 11, the 7th trumpet sounded and instead of that opening up the 7 bowls of wrath, we got a sneak peek into the coming reign of Jesus Christ.

We’ve learned about the woman (Israel), the red dragon (Satan), the male child (Jesus), and the arch angel (Michael). Two weeks ago, we were introduced to the Beast from the sea (the Antichrist) and the Beast from the earth (the false prophet). Last week, we saw the 144,000 male Jewish witnesses worshiping God as the first fruits from the earth. We learned about the angel flying through the 2nd heaven giving the earth-dwellers one more chance to repent and then we learned about the battle that would shed blood for 200 miles up to the horse’s bridle.

Now, we’re almost ready to see those last 7 bowls of wrath poured out onto the earth, but not quite yet. Chapter 15 is a short chapter and is a prelude to the 7 bowls that will be emptied in Chapter 16. The chronological order of things continues to be a confusing factor in these chapters.

However, if you go back to the 7 seals, you will find the chronological order for the events that are going to happen. The 7th seal opens up the 7 trumpets. The 7th trumpet opens up the 7 bowls of wrath. All 3 of these categories, the seals, trumpets and bowls, represent God’s judgment on humanity and they get progressively worse..

Let’s just throw up our timeline to keep this in the forefront of our mind as we go through Rev. 15-16 this week.

1. Rev. 15 opens up with John seeing another sign in heaven. Go back to

Rev. 12. The first 2 signs are in chapter 12. What were they?

2. What were these last 7 bowls filled up with in Rev. 15:1? Recently, my son Gabe, shared his testimony at our church. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to do so. He mentioned in his testimony that growing up and getting into a lifestyle that was antithetical to the plan and purpose of God caused him to constantly fear the judgment of God.

Once he was saved, that fear went away. The fear of God is a good thing. Scripture tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10) And fear does not just mean being scared to death. It also means respect and reverence.

3. What do you learn in Rom. 1:21-22 about the lack of wisdom?

The earth-dwellers in chapter 15 are foolish and because they refused to fear God, His wrath is going to be poured down upon them. Aren’t you glad that you know Him? Aren’t you grateful that you will not have to experience the hell on earth that is coming? God’s divine anger is about to be poured out by His divine righteousness and justice. You see, as believers in Christ, we get the grace of God.

Grace is receiving something you don’t deserve. Oh the marvelous grace of God in saving us from eternal judgment..

The Greek word that is used in Rev. 15:1 regarding filled up is eteleshe, which means to bring to a conclusion. In other words, God’s goal from the beginning of time is getting ready to come to its final end.

4. Read Rev. 15. In v. 2, where were the victorious standing?

5. We have seen this picture before in Revelation. Look back to Rev. 4:6

and describe what was before the throne.

One of the really amazing things about Revelation is the connection between what we see in heaven and what was built on earth with the tabernacle. The things in heaven are the real McCoys! The things on the earth are simply a representation of the heavenly articles.

6. Read Exodus 30:17-21. What was Moses instructed to do and why?

A laver is a wash basin. The bronze laver for the tabernacle was made from the bronze mirrors donated by the women. They likely obtained those from the Egyptian women prior to leaving Egypt in what we sometimes refer to as the exodus. The bronze laver was placed between the door to the Holy of Holies and the altar. No priest would ever enter the Holy Place without being cleansed. Temple articles in the outer court were bronze. Temple articles in the inner court were gold.

One of the most interesting details about the bronze laver is that with every other item made for the tabernacle, God gave specific instructions as to the size. However, there wasn’t a size or shape requirement for the laver. When the Jewish people moved from the tabernacle to the temple during King Solomon’s reign, the bronze laver was referred to as the bronze sea and it was huge. The rendering of what it looked like can be seen below.

7. Read Eph. 5:26-27. The imagery that is painted for us in the New Testament regarding the Church is that we are the bride of Christ. Therefore, marriage is the analogy used to help us understand what kind of a relationship we have with Him. According to these verses, how are we cleansed?

Therefore, we can say that the Word of God is analogous to water for cleansing. Now, go back to Rev. 15:2. There is a sea of glass before the throne of God and believers in heaven are standing on it while they worship God.

This is the connection between the bronze laver (sea of glass) and the glassy sea before the throne of God in heaven. There is a number that is so great, that it’s uncountable. We saw this back in Rev. 7. Perhaps this is why the bronze laver wasn’t given any dimensions, because the real sea in heaven would have so many saints standing on it. These saints are undoubtedly the dead who were martyred at the hand of the Beast in the tribulation. Isn’t it the most amazing concept ever that they will stand on a sea of glass?!!! The Word of God is the sea we stand on!

8. This massive sea before God’s throne in heaven has another important

difference from the tabernacle design. What is it?

It is mixed with fire! Well, that doesn’t sound fun! Fire in Scripture has to do with judgment. If believers who have come out of tribulation are standing on God’s Word (the sea) mixed with fire (the judgment), then they are overcomers. They are not to be looked at as victims of the Antichrist but as victors of Jesus Christ because they remained loyal to Him.

Now, they stand on the glassy sea before HIm. Here again is a pattern. Before entering the place where the presence of God resided, the priest had to be cleansed. The Levitical priests had to constantly be cleaning themselves in order to be in the presence of God.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to bathe by immersion 5x and had to wash his hands and feet 10x. Because Jesus provided purification of our sins, we, too, can stand on that sea of glass, knowing that we are clean and pure before God.

9. Read Hebrews 4:16 and explain what kind of attitude we will be able to

approach the throne of God with?

I’m so glad I get to stand on that sea on His righteousness and not my own! All mine is filthy! I may seem nice to you, but I can be a real meanie when the Bloomingdale comes out in me! Just ask my husband! If I want to judge myself regarding my own motives and behaviors, I judge myself against the Word of God. Am I following His mandates? Am I conducting myself in a way that is true, honest, just, pure, and noble?

I must tell you honestly, that every time I turn on the news, I want to hurt someone! I see the utter stupidity that is going on in our country and how the media not only feeds into it, but becomes part of it and it makes me crazy! When I get on Facebook and some of my friends are promoting ungodly platforms, I want to lash out at them and shake them. And then I come back to these recent chapters of Revelation and I find that even though people on the earth will know that God is behind the wrath being poured out, they still refuse to relent and repent.

As John MacArthur says, “they would not believe so they could not believe”. Oh what a dreadful statement about the human condition! Lord, what do I need to do in these last days to keep my thoughts and behaviors aligned with Your will, yet still warn others about what is coming? That is a question that each of us must ask Him.

There will be a tremendous amount of worship going on in heaven. We learn in Rev. 15 that those on the glassy sea will be singing the song of Moses. I am probably in the minority here, but I much prefer the old hymns to the contemporary Christian songs of today. I am a words person. The words to many of the old hymns seem to correspond better to Scripture than some of the more modern songs. My dad calls these modern songs 7/11 songs (7 songs sung 11 different ways). There are exceptions, of course. When I worked at the Veteran’s Administration, there was an 8:00 a.m. chapel service every morning. Many mornings, a homeless fella with a long white beard and walking cane would travel through the halls and sit at the back of the chapel. He always carried an old, battered hymnal with him. If he was present and I was in charge of the chapel service, I’d frequently ask him to sing a song. He had this deep, powerful voice, and when he sang the old hymns, I almost felt as if I was standing on that glassy sea before the Lord. This old fella was one of my favorite people when I worked there and nobody seemed to know much about him. Sometimes I wondered if he was an angel that God sent to me while there because there was some real darkness in that place.

10. Write down the words to Moses’ song in Rev. 15:3-4.

A true song of God focuses on God, not on us. Why does God do what He does? For His name’s sake. For His glory. Yes, God loves us, but He is the focus, not us. The fact that He loves us says everything about Him and nothing about us. When we started into this study of Revelation, we learned that this book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He is revealed to us. And at least part of what we discover along the way is that He is the focus of this book. He alone is worthy to be praised.

So many pastors and teachers want you to feel good about yourself. They want you to feel loved and cherished and worthy. God wants you to feel good about Him. He wants you to know that He is great and marvelous. He wants you to know that He is holy and righteous. He wants you to know that He is almighty. When your thoughts about God are accurate, then your thoughts about yourself will be accurate.

Think about when David faced Goliath and everybody kept talking about how big Goliath was. And David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who taunts the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam. 17:26). David’s focus was never on Goliath’s size and strength, but on God’s.

There are 3 songs that Moses wrote in the Old Testament. When he took the Israelites across the Red Sea in Exodus 15, the first one is recorded. Then, one is actually recorded in Psalm 90. Before Moses died, God told him to write a song.

11. Read Deut. 32. What is the song about?

You see, God already knew about the future behavior of His children. He

knew they’d be making mistakes and this song was to remind them of God’s faithfulness amidst their sins. The people were taught this song. There’s a little bit of everything in it; history, God’s faithfulness, His compassion, His vengeance against His enemies.

12. How does the song end in Deut 32:43?

The song of Moses ends on a joyful note for believers. Perhaps the most poignant part of that song in Rev. 15:4 comes with the words, “Who will not fear, O Lord and glorify Your name?”

It is incomprehensible to us that the people of the world will witness what they do and still curse God. Once again, where there is no fear, there is no wisdom, no discernment, and no chance of eternal life. And while the earth-dwellers shake their fist in the face of God and blaspheme His holy name, there is coming a time when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is God.

13. Read Rev. 15:5-8. What was opened in heaven?

14. How many angels came from this place and what did they have?

15. These angels emerged from the Holy of Holies in heaven. Who was

allowed into the Holy of Holies on earth?

These holy angels were allowed in this place because they did not have any

sin.

16. Do you remember what was in the Holy of Holies?

17. What was put in the ark of the covenant? (Exodus 25:16)

Those stone tablets contained the commandments of God for the holiness of His people. This was the law. Following this law meant following God. The judgment which is about to be poured out is linked to the law of God. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice. And the pouring out of God’s righteous judgment all stems from His holiness.

18. Is there anything significant about how they were dressed? You may

need to revisit Rev. 1:13.

In Rev. 1:13, Jesus is described as being girded across the chest. Priests were girded at the waist. Judges and magistrates were girded at the chest. This tiny piece of information alone lets us know that Jesus' 2nd coming would not be as Savior, but as Judge. By this time, the saving grace of God in offering salvation to the world has come to an end. The angels in Rev. Rev. 15:6 are also girded about the chest. When these 7 angels come out of the heavenly tabernacle, dressed for judgment, one of the 4 living creatures gave them each a bowl of wrath. What was going on inside the temple at this time?

We have discussed the Shekinah glory of God in some of our classes. The word Shekinah is not used in Scripture. Jewish rabbis coined the word to mean the presence or dwelling of God on the earth.

19. Exodus 13:20-22 gives us a picture of the 1st Shekinah glory revealed.

What was it?

That same Shekinah glory filled the tabernacle over the mercy seat when God met with His people.

20.What does 1 John 3:2 tell us about seeing the glory of God?

Friends, can you imagine seeing Jesus face to face. A few years ago, I was taking my Sunday afternoon beauty nap when I had a dream of seeing Jesus on a white horse getting ready to go out and conquer. I remember standing by the side of the road thinking just how surreal it was to actually see this person I have learned about and loved my whole life. He turned and looked at me. My heart began beating so hard and my legs were trembling and it woke me up. I wanted to go back into that dream so badly. But, it was, after all, just a dream. One day, we shall behold Him and it will be for real! Oh the joy!

As we head into Rev. 16, just know that hell on earth is getting ready to happen. This has been a long time coming! Justice delayed is definitely not justice denied. If you want to get a handle on the chronology of events, Rev. 19 would chronologically be what follows Rev. 16. We’ll discuss this more in a few weeks.

21. In Rev. 16:1, who is the voice that is mentioned?

22.Read Rev. 16:1-21 and describe each of the bowl judgments by telling what the judgment was and what happened as a result.

Bowl #1

Bowl #2

Bowl #3

Bowl #4

Bowl #5

Bowl #6

That 1st bowl that is poured out is an unusually great physical affliction on those who follow the Beast and who have his mark. We know that this happens later in the tribulation because we are told that those who were afflicted worshiped the image of the Beast. And we know that this image was not made until sometime after the halfway mark of the 7 year tribulation.

These people were warned not to get this mark back in Rev. 14. My guess is that by the time we get to the bowl judgments, there are very few believers still left alive upon the earth. And for those who do actually survive the tribulation, imagine what they will survive!

In the 2nd bowl judgment when all the sea becomes blood, there is considerable disagreement amongst Bible teachers as to whether this was the actual blood of a human or an animal and even if it was blood at all. As with other things that are questioned, I’m just not sure why it would be such a stretch to believe that God could and would do this. After all, Scripture is filled with the supernatural power of God. In the 2nd trumpet judgment, 1⁄3 of the sea is turned to blood. In this 2nd bowl judgment, the wrath of God is universal and it covers the entire earth.

In the 3rd bowl judgment, the blood extends to fresh waters and streams. And because of this, there would be no clean water to drink by the time we get to this stage in the judgments.

23. How is the angel in this bowl judgment referred to?

God is basically saying here that because evil men (and women) have killed the prophets and His saints by spilling their blood, then God is going to cause them to have to drink blood. That seems like a natural, logical consequence to me. If you tell a child not to eat anything before dinner and the child eats a snack and accidentally breaks the bowl the snack is in, the natural, logical consequence of that is that he be denied at least some of the other food that is fixed and that he has to pay to purchase another bowl.

God is into natural, logical consequences. The blood that was shed by the killing of the Christian martyrs will be unprecedented. Jesus even said in Matt. 24:21 that it will be a time like no other in the history of the world. Therefore, the natural, logical consequence of spilling the blood of believers is spilling the blood of those who caused and supported their deaths.

In the 4th bowl, the sun is affected. The 4th trumpet affected 1⁄3 of the sun, moon, and stars by causing darkness across the world. Now, in this 4th bowl, the sun is not only shining, it is shining so hot that the earth-dwellers are being scorched by it. Have you ever gotten a really bad sunburn? I have. I’m pretty fair-skinned and I have to be careful when I’m out in the sun. When this 4th bowl is poured out, it doesn’t matter if you’re in an open field, beside the ocean, or inside a cave, the sun will destroy your skin. Although it is not clearly stated, those who did not get the mark appear to be able to escape these judgments.

24.What do you read in Rev. 16:9 about the state of heart of mankind at this time? Have you ever heard the term “hard-hearted”? What does that even mean?

The Bible is full of instances where the heart of mankind was hardened towards God.

25. Perhaps my favorite set of verses that gives us hope for redemption is found in Ezekiel 36:26. What does God say that He will do for the nation of Israel in the end?

Although that promise is to Israel, the way to our own redemption is through the removal of our heart of stone and its replacement with a heart of flesh. If a person has a heart of stone, then nothing can get through it. The heart in Scripture is the seat of our emotions. It is our feelings. The implication here is that regardless of what these people were aware of and regardless of all the warnings they were given, they had hearts that were impenetrable. That is a frightening thing to think about!

26.This so reminds me of the story in Luke 16:19-31. What does father Abraham tell Lazarus about his 5 brothers?

Once again, they would not repent, so they could not repent. This is a sad, sad commentary on humanity.

27. In the 5th bowl judgment, the wrath of God is directed at the Beast and those who follow him. What do you think is meant by “the seat of the Beast”?

The Greek word for “seat” in this verse is thronos, which basically means throne. The Beast has a throne that he rules from. Have you ever heard the line “pouring salt in a wound”? That means that when there is an open wound and salt is poured on that wound, then the salt causes much more pain than was there to begin with.

When the 1st bowl of wrath was poured out, the earth-dwellers were smitten with sores. When we get to the 5th bowl of wrath, the sores are still there from the 1st bowl, except the pain is intensified. The pain these people will be going through will be unprecedented on the earth and yet, it will not be nearly as bad as hell is going to be for them.

28.What do you learn about how this pain affected the earth-dwellers at the end of Rev. 16:11?

This is the last mention of them refusing to repent. It’s not the last mention of them blaspheming God though and they will continue to do this. Time has run out and so has the grace of God.

In the 6th bowl, the great Euphrates River is dried up. The Euphrates River marks the eastern boundary of the Old Roman Empire. The mighty invasion of the kings of the east is about to go down in preparation for the final showdown between the armies of the world and Jesus and His armies when He returns. Who are the kings of the east? I don’t really know, but I’m guessing that it is the Oriental leaders and their armies.

29. How exactly are these armies lured into crossing the Euphrates River in an attempt to have the final conflict on earth?

In the final bowl, the 7th one, seismic catastrophic occurrences happen across the earth in a way that has never happened, not even in the flood of Noah’s day.

30.What came from the sky during this judgment?

At different times throughout history, a talent has represented slightly different weights. As it is represented here, the likely weight of a talent would be about 100 pounds. Can you imagine 100 pound hailstones falling from the sky? Very little could survive this kind of pounding.

By the time the bowl judgments are poured out, we are getting very close to the end of that 7 year period of tribulation on the earth, and thus, very close to Christ’s 2nd return. Let’s get this all put together so that we can see it. I’ve done this in the chart on the next page. What I want you to do as you look at this chart is to see the basic categories of judgments.

31. Get your crayons out. Looking at the chart:
Highlight with green all instances of earthquakes.

Highlight with yellow any mention of the sun, moon, and stars.

Highlight with red any reference to water turning to blood.

Highlight with grey anything having to do with war.

Highlight with blue all references to the Antichrist, his demons, and his territory.

Remember that in the trumpet judgments, 1⁄3 of the sea turns to blood, but in the bowl judgments, the entire sea is turned to blood. Don’t think this was just free-flowing blood. When blood sits for even a short amount of time, it begins to thicken and coagulate. During the days of the tabernacle and temple sacrifices, the blood had to be fresh to be an appropriate sacrificial offering.

Below is a picture of a temple article called a mizrak. The mizrak was used to catch the blood of animals when they were sacrificed. There would have been several of these that were used. As the animals were killed and their blood collected in the mizrak, the mizrak would have been passed down a line of priests until it made its way to the altar. Then the free-flowing blood was poured on the altar.

32. What do you notice about this cup that is different from other cups? You could never sit this cup down because of the point at the bottom. It was purposely designed this way so that the blood would not coagulate at the bottom. If the blood coagulated, then the sacrifice was no good.

33. Read John 19:32-34. What came out of Jesus after the soldiers pierced His side?

Hummmm, I wonder why John included this detail. It was already evident that He had died because the soldiers decided not to break His legs to hasten His death as they did to the men on either side of the cross beside Him.

34. So, what is the reason for the mention of blood and water? What does Hebrews 9:22 say about the blood?

35. According to Acts 20:28, what did Jesus purchase with His blood? His sacrifice for us was 2-fold. First, he redeemed us or bought us with His free-flowing blood.

36. Read Rev. 21:6. What does water have to do with all of this?

Water in Scripture is life-giving. So not only did Jesus’ blood pay for our sins, the water He shed and continues to give, brings us from death to life, from sin and nastiness to forgiveness and cleanliness. Oh the great, great love of Jesus!

In the 2nd bowl judgment, we have another mixture of water and blood in Scripture, but this time, instead of life-giving, it is life-taking. All the oceans and sea will be turned to blood and it will not be free-flowing blood that we have with the sacrifices of the temple and with Jesus’ blood sacrifice, it will be coagulated and brown because it will be sitting. Imagine all the oceans filled with blood that is the consistency of jello. That is what will happen in this judgment. It is ugly. But then death usually is.

37. John foresees the battle of Armageddon. Read Rev. 16:13-16. What did John see coming out of the mouths of the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Dragon?

38. I absolutely hate frogs! They are gross and slimy! But were these demonic spirits, real frogs, or were they just like frogs?

John was just doing his best to describe what he had seen. These unclean, demonic spirits were not angels because angels do not inhabit others. They were demons. Demons are disembodied spirits who need some kind of body to inhabit.

39. Once they came out of the mouths of this unholy trio, what did they do?

40. This is not the first place in Scripture that frogs are mentioned. Look back to Exodus 8:1-14. What happened in these verses and what was the result after the frogs were killed in v. 14?

Yes, dead frogs stink! But have you ever investigated some of the evil that has happened across the ages, and discovered that a foul odor is often attached to the individual or individuals who were demonically possessed to do certain atrocious acts?

Tud Bundy, the notorious serial killer was known to have a pungent smell emanating from him when demons took over his thinking. Defense investigator Joe Aloi said he noticed that odor while he was questioning Bundy. He said, “I felt the negative electricity, and along with that came that smell.” The frog-like creatures that will come out of the mouths of Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet will be strong and fierce and supernatural in what they’ll be able to do, and yes, I highly suspect they will emit a sickening smell. Extreme evil tends to have those characteristics.

41. In Rev. 16:15, who is Jesus coming like a thief to?

Does one come like a thief to those he loves? No! There will be those who are still alive who know Scripture and they already know how the story ends! They will not be taken off guard. In fact, if they’re smart, they can count the days from the time of the abomination of desolation and figure out when the 2nd coming of Christ is going to be. We do not know when the rapture of the Church is going to be. But the 2nd coming is different. There are very specific events that last a specific number of days prior to His 2nd coming. 42. Who is the they mentioned in Rev. 16:16?

To answer that question, you need only back up a few verses. Those froggy demons go out to the kings of the earth to gather them together for battle in a place called Har-Megedon (Armageddon). The final bowl is poured out at the end of Rev. 16 and the earth is devastated. Read Rev. 16:17-21.

“It is done” in v. 17 is different from “It is finished” in John 19:30 when Jesus died. In v. 17, the word done has to do with someone generating a particular action that is now over. In other words, God generated the wrath that fell upon the earth and it is over. Jesus’ death had to do with Him accomplishing the redemptive action to save mankind.

43. In Rev. 16:18, we have the 3rd earthquake in the book of Revelation. But

this earthquake is different. Why?

Babylon the Great was split into 3 divisions. This city is synonymous with debauchery and every kind of sin imaginable. It is the city that birthed the first antichrist figure in Scripture, Nimrod. When we get to chapters 17-18, we will find that another qualifier is added to describe this city, mystery. Ask yourself why that word would be associated with Babylon. I believe there will be a future Babylon that will have the same political, economic, social and spiritual sin that we saw in the original Babel.

44. In Rev. 16:20-21, did the earth-dwellers know that God was behind these

plagues?

45. What was their response to Him?

It is just hard to realize that after all they were witness to, they still refuse to believe. There are people who I know don’t know God. Sometimes I’m burdened to pray for some and for others, I’m not. There have been some through the years that I’ve languished over in prayer. Yet, as Dr. MacArthur said, “They would not believe, so they could not believe.” As time goes on, I’ve felt the Holy Spirit impress upon me to no longer burden myself with certain people and to spend my time in prayer for others. Obviously, there are people who will never trust Jesus Christ as Savior regardless of what kind of evidence they see.

A few lessons ago, I mentioned raising children with a biblical world view. That world view includes accountability to God for personal actions. The sad thing that I witness with the current generation is a denial of accountability. If you are never accountable before God for your behavior, then you have become your own god. This is precisely what we see played out with these earth dwellers. Not only are they worshiping the Beast, they are worshiping themselves.

The writing is on the wall for these people. We can sometimes see the handwriting on the wall with certain people we know who have repeatedly rejected God and the things of God. Friends, you cannot talk spiritual sense into everyone. You can share the truth of the Word of God and if the Holy Spirit wants to tackle someone like He tackled the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, then you may sometimes have to step aside and just pray. But what we are witnessing here in the 2nd half of this book, is that the further into that last 3 1⁄2 years, the harder the hearts of those earth-dwellers will become.