The Seven Angels with the Seven Plagues (Day 27)

Write These Words

 Revelation 14:13 ⁽¹³⁾Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

  

          John was told to write down words of comfort. God said that those who die in Christ are blessed for they will not have to labor any longer. Whatever deeds they did will follow them. Once a saved people die, they will have a reward in Heaven once Jesus returns because of their faithfulness. God rewards all who endure to the end with Eternal Life. There will be no more sickness, death, pain, tears, stress, worry, and/or anxiety. It will all cease! Colossians 3:23-24 ⁽²³⁾Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ⁽²⁴⁾since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (NIV) God rewards those who are faithful.

 

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

 

Revelation 14:14-17 ⁽¹⁴⁾I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ⁽¹⁵⁾Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ⁽¹⁶⁾So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. ⁽¹⁷⁾Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

 

 

          John witnessed the Son of Man sitting on a white cloud with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. Another angel came out of the temple and told the Son of Man to take His sickle and reap the harvest, so He swung His sickle over the earth and took the harvest. Another angel came out of the temple and had a sickle too. Jesus is going to separate the righteous from the wicked. There will be a separation because sin cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This is why Jesus has to be the one to do the separating because He reads men’s hearts and minds and will judge them according to what they have done. The wicked will be judged and go to the Abyss, but the righteous will be harvested and go to Heaven.

 

 

 

Matthew 13:24-30 ⁽²⁴⁾Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ⁽²⁵⁾But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ⁽²⁶⁾When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. ⁽²⁷⁾ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ⁽²⁸⁾ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ⁽²⁹⁾ “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ⁽³⁰⁾Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ” (NIV) This gathering will be the glorious day when Jesus comes to get His children to take them back home with Him. The wicked, however, will run in fear and try to hide from the brightness of His coming.

 



 Revelation 14:18-20 ⁽¹⁸⁾Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ⁽¹⁹⁾The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ⁽²⁰⁾They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

         
          John saw another angel come who was in charge of the fire. He came from the altar in Heaven and told the angel who had the sickle to gather the ripe grapes and threw them into the winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled over and blood flowed out and the amount reached up to a horse’s reign. This is letting us know that God is going to utterly destroy the wicked. Not one will get away from the wrath of God. Many people want to only focus on the love of God, but there is also another side to God. It is God’s wrath which He wishes for no one to experience. However, due to the sin of the wicked who refused to turn back to Him, they will experience this wrath without mercy. Joel 3:13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow—so great is their wickedness!” (NIV)

 

 Seven Angels With Seven Plagues

 

Revelation 15:1-4 ⁽¹⁾I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. ⁽²⁾And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God ⁽³⁾and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. ⁽⁴⁾Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

 

             John saw seven angels with the seven last plagues showing the completion of God’s wrath. He saw a sea of glass glowing with fire and those who had been victorious over the beast held harps in their hands and sang about God. There are going to be judgments that will be poured out on the earth due to the wickedness of sin. These judgments will not be for the righteous, but for those who accepted the deception and mark of the beast and his image. The wicked will not be able to escape the final wrath of God. The Bible tells us why in the book of Romans.

 Romans 1:18-32 ⁽¹⁸⁾The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ⁽¹⁹⁾since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ⁽²⁰⁾For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ⁽²¹⁾For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking be ⁽²³⁾and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. ⁽²⁴⁾Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ⁽²⁵⁾They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. ⁽²⁶⁾Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ⁽²⁷⁾In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

⁽²⁸⁾Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ⁽²⁹⁾They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ⁽³⁰⁾slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ⁽³¹⁾they have no understanding, no fidelity, no  decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (NIV) This text totally outlines why the wicked will be judged and the sins for which punishment will be given. We want to make a conscious decision to follow and obey God.

 

             The righteous sang a song unto God because of His goodness. They knew that God had been fair in all His ways and that all nations will acknowledge Him and His greatness. Exodus 15:1-3 ⁽¹⁾Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. ⁽²⁾“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

⁽³⁾The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. (NIV) God is mighty and just in all His ways. We will not cry over anyone who doesn’t make it to Heaven once we get there because we will know that everyone had a chance to make it, but refused to accept His free gift of Salvation.

 

Revelation 15:5-8 ⁽⁵⁾After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. ⁽⁶⁾Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. ⁽⁷⁾Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. ⁽⁸⁾And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

John saw the temple in Heaven, which is the tabernacle of the law that was opened. There was an ark during Moses time that was made to keep the 10 Commandments inside. These are the laws that man were to go by as a guideline for righteous living even though we cannot be saved by observance alone. Jeremiah 31:33 "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (NIV) The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of it. They were dressed in clean robes with gold sashes around their chest. These angels were dressed in righteousness and the glory of God. No one can stand before a pure and righteous God being full of sin. 2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (NIV)  Everyone who is righteous will also wear robes of righteousness just as these angels and will be surrounded by the glory of God.

 

          One of the four living creatures gave the angels seven bowls filled with God’s wrath. The temple was filled with the glory of God and no one could go inside the temple until the plagues were complete. God is allowing time for all to be saved. This is why it is of great urgency that we witness to the lost in order to help them be saved through the grace and mercy of God. He does not wish for anyone to be lost, but for all to come to repentance. Unfortunately, many think that they will be able to go to Heaven in their sinful state and nothing could be further from the truth. There is judgment coming to the entire world. The world will witness the wrath of God like never before. God’s temple will remain empty during this time until the plagues are complete. God will come back to take His children home. Romans 2:5-8 ⁽⁵⁾But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁽⁶⁾God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” ⁽⁷⁾To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁽⁸⁾But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (NIV)This is why we want to be on the side of righteousness, so that we may live forever with our Lord and Savior.

Join us tomorrow as we continue our study in the book of Revelation.