Angels & the Savior /Revelation Chapters 14-15 Greg Bahnsen {Part 54 of 63} Revelation VerseByVerse

We're in Revelation, the 14th chapter this morning. It's my hope that we'll get through chapter 14 and chapter 15 as well today. I can see all the skeptical heads nodding. Well, I have something to prove to you today, so we'll get through it one way or another. Last week, you may recall, as we're going through this drama kind of serialized by our looking at it in installments week by week. Last week we were looking at chapter 14 against the background of the opposition to the two beasts of chapter 13. In chapter 13, Satan, the great red dragon, has called to his service a beast with seven heads of the Roman Empire and a beast from the earth, the emperor culture that was active in Asia Minor. And then over against that we see the lamb and the 144,000 saints of Jesus Christ who are going to make war with the beast, the two beasts. And then John shows us a series of visions, six angels and the Savior, as I said. And this series of visions of the angels and the Savior serves the same purpose as did the als on the seven sealed scroll earlier in the book of Revelation. And that function is to preview the contents of the prophecy, to preview the judgment that is yet to come. Okay. In chapter 14, at verse 6, John begins to see these angels, three in succession, come standing at the high point in the sky, the zenith where the sun usually would be. And these three angels all cry with a certain message. The first one cries the message of the eternal gospel that is proclaimed over all the earth. The second one cries the message of Babylon's fall, because Babylon making the nations drunk with the wine of her fornication and wrath. And the third angel comes standing at the place of the sun, crying. Any man who worships the beast and receives his mark will drink the wine of God's pure wrath and be tormented in the presence of the Lamb and the angels with fire forever. Now, at that point, which is where we left off last week, John says in verse 12, here is the patience, or a better translation, the steadfastness of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus against the background of what he said in verses 9 to 11. This third angel saying that those who follow the beast are going to be tormented in hell forever. Against that background, John says, here is the steadfastness of the saints. Here we can see the steadfastness, the endurance of the saints. Persecution and threats, you see, are a test of one's faith. And so the steadiness of the saints, their consistency in their witness is Seen against the background of the threats against them and the final judgment against those who had made such threats. In First Peter 1, 6, 7, Peter himself reflects on this from prison in Rome, saying, wherein ye greatly rejoice, that is in the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth, though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is a perspective which I think a lot of modern Christians lack altogether. Or if they have it, they have it in word only. I think that's probably true of my own life. It's very hard to undergo persecution and opposition and temptation and distress and to recognize that thereby God tests your faith. And that testing of the faith isn't simply God saying, now what is the character of this faith? But Peter says, it's to make your faith even better, it's to refine it as gold. But you can see how that tests faith, alright. So a man says, I have faith that this car can do 80 miles an hour. All right, but what's the test of that faith? The test of that faith is that when the car needs to go 80 miles an hour, he puts it to it, right? In the same way, if you have faith that those who persecute you will eventually be judged by God, and God will deliver you and in his own time will set you apart, then in the face of that persecution, if you're steadfast in your witness, then your faith has been proven. So John says, here is the patience or here is the steadfastness, the consistency, the endurance of the saints. And it's interesting how he describes them again, they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Throughout John's writings in the New Testament, whether you look at his epistles or whether you look at his gospel, if you look at Revelation, John, interestingly enough, the beloved disciple, the one who is supposed to have the heart, you see, of love, is the one who consistently says that the saints are those who keep the commandments of God. John will allow no deprecation of the law of God from the Old Testament. This description of the saints, literally in Greek, the holy ones, shows the impossibility, I think, of antinomian sainthood. I want you to think about that for a minute. Antinomian sainthood would be a strange mixture, wouldn't it? John himself says in the third chapter of his first epistle, that sin is what? Lawlessness. Those who behave in a lawless fashion, those who are antinomian in their behavior are sinning. And so do you think John could tolerate the idea of a sinning holy one, a saint? Saint means holy one. And those who are against the law are those who are sinning. Absolutely not. John says, here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God. Of course, he also says, they keep the faith of Jesus, and I don't by any means want to exalt the one over the other. They both need to be kept fully in view. As the song says, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. And so there's faith as well as dedication to the service of God. The impossibility of antinomian sainthood then, is linked with the impossibility of easy believism, the idea that one could trust the Lord without attempting to obey him as well. Hebrews 5, 9. The author of Hebrews says that Christ became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey him, Right? So faith must be wed with a life of dedicated service, or else that faith is not genuine. It is, I suppose, especially for this audience, not difficult to see some of the difficulty of modern day evangelistic techniques which offer to people basically a fire escape, you know, from hell, that if you just say that you trust the Lord, you know, totally apart from what it does to your life, just saying that and having it hidden away in some ghostly chamber in your heart will be sufficient for you to escape God's eternal wrath. That isn't John's perspective, and it oughtn't to be ours. In verse 13, John says, and I heard a voice from heaven. Obviously this is a voice that has divine authority. Perhaps it's the voice of the Holy Spirit himself. For we see that the Spirit is quoted as saying, yes here in this verse as well. But a heavenly voice having divine authority. And John is told that he must write, I heard a voice from heaven saying, write. Okay, so there's two elements of emphasis here. It's a heavenly voice and it's a voice that says, now get this on paper, John. It's very important. Moreover, in the midst of this saying, we have the Holy Spirit adding his amen to what is being said. It's rare in the Bible that we find such literary expressions or actual from the content of the verse itself expressing how important this is. It is being said, and the important message is blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors for their works. Follow with them or follow after them is another way of translating it. This is the second of seven Beatitudes that will be found in the Book of Revelation. There are seven times where God pronounces, blessed is, and then he gives a description. This is the second of seven of them. And like I say, the Holy Spirit says, yes, indeed, to this blessing. It's very important. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. The connection with verse 12 is rather obvious. It needs to go 80 miles an hour. He puts it to it right, in the same way, if you have faith that those who persecute you will eventually be judged by God, and God will deliver you and in his own time will set you apart. Then, in the face of that persecution, if you're steadfast in your witness, then your faith has been proven. So John says, here is the patience, or here is the steadfastness, the consistency, the endurance of the saints. And it's interesting how he describes them again, they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus throughout John's writings in the New Testament, whether you look at his epistles or whether you look at his Gospel, whether you look. If you look at Revelation, John, interestingly enough, the beloved disciple, the one who is supposed to have the heart, you see, of love, is the one who consistently says that the saints are those who keep the commandments of God. John will allow no deprecation of the law of God from the Old Testament. This description of the saints, literally in Greek, the holy ones, shows the impossibility, I think, of antinomian sainthood. I want you to think about that for a minute. Antinomian sainthood would be a strange mixture, wouldn't it? John himself says in the third chapter of his first Epistle that sin is what, lawlessness, right? Those who behave in a lawless fashion, those who are antinomian in their behavior are sinning. And so do you think John could tolerate the idea of a sin sinning? Holy one, a saint. Saint means holy one. Okay. And those who are against the law are those who are sinning. Absolutely not. John says, here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God. Of course, he also says they keep the faith of Jesus. And I don't by any means want to exalt the one over the other. They both need to be kept fully in view. As the song says, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. And so there's faith as well as dedication to the service of God. The impossibility of antinomian sainthood then is linked with the impossibility of easy believism, the idea that one could trust the Lord without attempting to obey him as well. Hebrews 5, 9. The author of Hebrews says that Christ became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey him, right? So faith must be wed with a life of dedicated service, or else that faith is not genuine. It is, I suppose, especially for this audience, not difficult to see some of the difficulty of modern day evangelistic techniques which offer to people basically a fire escape, you know, from hell, that if you just say that you trust the Lord, you know, totally apart from what it does to your life, just saying that and having it hidden away in some ghostly chamber in your heart will be sufficient for you to escape God's eternal wrath. That isn't John's perspective, and it oughtn't to be ours. In verse 13, John says, and I heard a voice from heaven. Obviously this is a voice that has divine authority. Perhaps it's the voice of the Holy Spirit himself. For we see that the Spirit is quoted as saying, yes, here in this verse as well, but. But a heavenly voice having divine authority. And John is told that he must write. I heard a voice from heaven saying, write. So there's two elements of emphasis here. It's a heavenly voice and it's a voice that says, now get this on paper, John. It's very important. Moreover, in the midst of this saying, we have the Holy Spirit adding his Amen to what is being said. It's rare in the Bible that we find such literary expressions or actual from the content of the verse itself expressing how important this is that is being said. And the important message is, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors for their works. Follow with them or follow after them is another way of translating it. This is the second of seven beatitudes that will be found in the book of Revelation. There are seven times where God pronounces, blessed is. And then he gives a description. And this is the second of seven of them. And like I say, the Holy Spirit says, yes indeed to this blessing. It's very important. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. The connection with verse 12 is rather obvious, isn't it? Faithfulness to Christ, steadfastness, patience in the Lord may indeed result in one's martyrdom. And when it does, the Holy Spirit himself cries out, amen to their blessing. Blessed are those who die in the Lord. And the blessedness is found in this, that they rest from their labors. I think that probably combines the idea of the eschatological rest, the that we described last week that awaits the saints of God. They rest from their labors, and they know the eternal rest of God. But it includes, I think, as well the cessation from the troubles that called for their steadfastness and their endurance. They had been troubled by the world. They had to labor against the world and resist the world. And God says the time of resistance is over. Now it's time to take their ease and to rest. And it's a beautiful expression of the testimony of the martyrs for their works follow after them. What does that mean? Anybody want to take a stab at the. It's an awkward expression. Their works follow. How can works follow after somebody, you know, like a lamb follows Mary to school or something like that is the impression that that gives, I think. How do their works follow after them? What John is saying is their devotion to Christ is not forgotten by God. Their devotion is not forgotten by any means. Their works follow after them. God remembers the work that they have done in his kingdom and for his kingdom in devotion to his Son. All right, we've had three angels now cry out. The eternal gospel is going to be proclaimed universally. Babylon is to fall, and those who followed Babylon are to be judged of God eternally. Whereas those who are martyred in the face of opposition because of Babylon are going to know the rest of God and the blessing of God. And now John goes on to two visions of harvest. One, a harvest of the earth. Actually, the other one is a vintage of the earth. Now, in Palestine, it was traditional for the vintage to follow the wheat harvest. Deuteronomy 16 indicates that. And laying out the instructions for the first fruits, offerings. But this double metaphor of harvesting and vintaging the earth actually comes From Joel, the third chapter, verse 13. Let's look at Joel 3:13. I'll read it. Verse 12. Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come trudgy, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. And then Joel goes on in this dramatic vision, Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision the sun and the moon are dark, and the stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. It's a stirring passage, but the combined image of a wheat harvest, a vintage of the earth, is now used by John. However, John. John is fully aware of the development of biblical themes and biblical theology from the Old and New Testaments. The vintage, as you already know, is associated with the wrath of God. Already in chapter 14, verses 8 and 10, we've seen that fallen is Babylon the Great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Verse 10 explains that they shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. All right, so here you have the idea of vintage associated with wrath. However, in the New Testament, the idea of a wheat or a grain harvest is always associated with the ingathering of the elect into the kingdom of God. And we'll be looking at that in just a second. And consequently, I think Sweet is correct when he says in his commentary that these two metaphors of harvest and vintage are used with different objects. The wheat that is being harvested is the elect, and the grapes that are being gathered to crush are those who are reprobate, those who resist and rebel against the Son of God. And so there are different objects of the harvest and the vintage. He puts it this way. The seer follows the Old Testament prophet, meaning Amos, but with a difference. He treats the two harvests as distinct, placing them in their natural order. Okay, first the wheat harvest and then the vintage of the earth, and using them as symbols of two separate spiritual ingatherings. And I think he's absolutely right. It would serve no purpose for John to have a vision of a wheat harvest which meant the judgment of the wicked, and then to come back and give a symbol of the vintage and a judgment of the wicked. I mean, that repetition and the use of two slightly different metaphors for it doesn't seem to serve either a theological or literary purpose in the book. However, it fits better with the theology of the. Of the Scriptures previous to this. For John to be speaking of two different kinds of ingathering. And I think Sweet is right on that, and we can see it from the context and the content as well. Let's look at this first, verse 14. And I saw, behold a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. All right, the reaper who is going, the one who's going to reap this harvest of the earth, is described as upon a cloud like unto a son of man having a golden crown, actually a golden wreath on his head, and in his hand a sharp sickle that is prepared to do the reaping. Who is this one upon the cloud? Leon Morris says it has to be an angel. He says, because if it's the Lord Jesus Christ and another angel comes forth in a minute and tells him to do something that isn't appropriate for one angel to tell Jesus what to do. That's very weak reasoning. Obviously, the angel is coming with the bidding of God the Father from the Holy of Holies, if you follow the description. And so Jesus is doing the bidding of his Father, and so it's not inappropriate at all. Moreover, Jesus is the angel of the Lord of the Old Testament, could take his place among the angels and discourse with them. In Revelation 1:13, it's clear that the person upon the cloud is Jesus Christ. In this opening vision of Christ, we read, and in the midst of the candle stands one like unto a Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breast with a golden girdle, one like unto a Son of man. And we know that it's Jesus Christ, the glorious resurrected and ascended Messiah that John is describing here. The background to John's description of one like unto a son of man coming upon the clouds is Daniel the seventh chapter, verses 13 and 14. Look at Daniel 7, 13 and 14, so that we know what kind of message John is portraying. Daniel says, I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of man. And he came even to the ancient of days. And they brought him near before him. Why? What was the purpose of this? And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. The Son of man comes to the Ancient of days, comes to the Eternal Father in Daniel, that he might receive a kingdom, that he might receive universal dominion over all people. And we see that reflected in Matthew 24:30, 31. In the Olivet discourse, Jesus refers to Daniel 7 and to the ingathering of all men into his kingdom. Matthew 24:30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven Remember not the sign in heaven of the Son of Man, but the sign that the Son of Man is in heaven. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. How will people know that Jesus Christ has ascended on high? Because the nations of the earth are going to repent for their sins, and the angels of God are going to gather the elect from earth's remotest ends. Then people will know that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. In Matthew 26:64, we know that this coming on the clouds of heaven takes place long before the second coming of Jesus Christ in judgment on the world. Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said. Nevertheless, I say unto you, henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. What's he referring to as he speaks this to the Sanhedrin? It's referring to the judgment he'll bring against Jerusalem. You may judge me, but I tell you before you die, you will see me come again upon the clouds of heaven. One taking the title Son of Man. All right, so in Revelation 14, at verse 14, John saw the white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting, like unto a Son of man, having on his head a golden wreath. Now, technically, a king wears a diadem, according to Greek usage. Here Jesus is given a golden wreath, which is the customary sign of a conqueror or a victor in the races. Either a victor in the races or a conqueror at war. And so Christ is coming, as Daniel had predicted, upon the clouds of heaven to receive a great dominion, a universal dominion. And thus he is crowned as a victor, and he's going to reap the earth, Even as Matthew 24 said, sending his angels to gather the elect into his kingdom. In verses 15 and 16, we read another angel came out of the temple. Actually, the angel comes from the sanctuary, if you want to translate it technically. And the sanctuary is the most holy place, or the holy of holies. Chapter 7, verse 15 of Revelation shows us that it's there that God sits in the sanctuary. So the angel comes forth from the most holy presence of God to deliver a divine command to Christ to commence the harvest. And again he uses a loud voice. That's the same kind of voice that's used by the angels throughout this chapter. And he says with a loud voice that the harvest is ripe. Another angel came out of the temple crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, send forth thy sickle and reap. For the hour to reap has come. For the harvest of the earth is ripe. The hour of ripeness has come, and so put in the sickle. The time is right. It's interesting how the book of Revelation stresses throughout from beginning to end that God always does his works at just the right time. I wish I had time to discourse on that for a few moments with you, but it's something that we need to learn. It's something that only the most mature believers I think, have in terms of patience to know that whatever God does, He does at just the right time. You know, most of our frustrations, if you stop and think about it, most of our frustrations as Christians are tied up with timetable concerns, right? We really believe God's going to do the right thing. It's just we want him to do it according to our schedule. All right, John says here, the time is ripe. God does things at just the right time. And then, interestingly, the reaping is given only a brief and undetailed mention. You can fill in the details for yourself. Now, I've said that this first heart harvest is a blessed ingathering of the elect into the kingdom of God. And I think we need to see some background to that in the New Testament already. We know the Old Testament context. You know, Daniel sees the Son of Man coming to receive a universal dominion over all the tribes of the earth. We know from the language itself with the golden wreath upon Christ's head, that he is portrayed as a victor, one who conquers and overcomes. But the New Testament image of a harvest is usually associated with the gathering into the kingdom of God. And we can begin at Matthew the 9th chapter, verses 37 and 38, to see that. Then, saith he unto his disciples, the harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, that the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest. What kind of harvest is this? Is God sending laborers in to kill people to bring judgment upon people? No. He's wanting the harvest of his kingdom to be brought in. It's the appropriate time for laborers to go forth now and to bring in the full abundance of God's elect. Matthew 13:30, of course, is in the midst of the parable of the wheat and the tares and some Commentators, I think, have engaged in what is really a boomerang argument against their own position when they say, well, here's an exception. You see, the New Testament uses harvest for judgment. Because here we have the wheat and the tares. What's the problem with the argument? Who's judged, the wheat or the tares? It's the tares. You see, the ingathering of wheat is always an image for the ingathering of the elect. So Matthew 13:30. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn. But gather the wheat into my barn, which is to say, bring the elect into my Kingdom. Then Mark 4, verse 29. Let me give you the context reading from verse 26. And he said, so is the kingdom of God. As if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow. He knoweth not how the earth beareth fruit of herself. First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come. This is what the kingdom of God is like. First the blade, then the ear, then the full ear of corn. And then you put in the blade and gather in the harvest. The harvest of what, judgment? No, the harvest of those who are being brought into the kingdom of God. Then Luke 10:2 actually repeats Matthew 9. And he said unto them, the harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest. And I think in application of this teaching, we've looked at all three of the Gospels up to this point. But in the fourth Gospel of John's Gospel, chapter four, we see the application of these metaphors to an actual situation of evangelism. John 4:27. Remember, Jesus has been speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. He has just declared that he is the Messiah awaited from the Old Testament. In verse 27 we read, and upon this came his disciples. Upon this situation came his disciples. And they marveled that he was speaking with a woman. Yet no man said, what seekest thou? Or why speakest thou with her? They were appalled that Jesus was talking to this woman, but they didn't dare ask him about it. So the woman left her water pot and went away into the city and saith to the people, she forgot what her business was. By the way she came to draw water. She left the water pot there and she went into the city and said, come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the city and were coming to him. Okay, so here you have a flock of people from the city coming out to this watering hole. And in the meantime, the disciples prayed, saying, prayed to him or implored him, rabbi, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that you don't know of. The disciples therefore said one to another, hath any man brought him something to eat? I'll tell you, they're really dull sometimes. Jesus said unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to accomplish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months. And then cometh the harvest. Isn't it being discussed already that it's about four months, the harvest? Now, behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look unto the fields. They are white already unto harvest. It's a beautiful passage. What's Jesus talking about? Where did John leap off with the crowds coming out of Samaria, out to meet Jesus at the well? And as the crowds are coming out, Jesus says, aren't people saying that it's four months to harvest? Lift up your heads. You look out there, you see the fields are white unto harvest already. It's now time to draw the elect into God's kingdom. He's saying, because these people are coming out to the Messiah. He that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together, a reference to Joel's prophecy. For herein is the saying, true. One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored, others have labored, and ye are entered into their labour of drawing men into eternal life, as the Samaritans come out to meet him. Well, it's a beautiful passage, but I can't spend much more time on it. Also, I won't meet my goals. In Revelation 14, when John sees the Son of Man coming upon a cloud with a victor's wreath, putting in his sickle to harvest the earth of its grain, of its wheat. He's showing us the Son of Man who is going to harvest the entire earth for the kingdom of God. He's showing that God. God intends a universal kingdom to be given to his Son, a universal dominion to be won by the Savior. But then there's another kind of Reaping to be seen in this chapter as well. One that isn't a blessed reaping, but is rather a curse from the covenantal God. And another angel came out from the temple which is heaven. He also has a sharp sickle. A vivid figure of violent judgment is about to come. An angel from the sanctuary is God's agent for this awesome event. He too is said to have a sharp sickle. The sickle in Palestine with its curved blade was used, by the way, both for wheat and for gathering clusters of grapes from the vine. And so he too has a sharp sickle. And then another angel, the sixth angel, enters the picture, verse 18. And another angel came out from the altar. He that hath power over fire. It's an interesting description. He comes from the altar, which we know previously in the book, is associated with the prayers of the righteous, especially the prayers asking for vengeance against those who have persecuted them. And this angel who comes forth has power over fire. And it's great to see the liberal commentators seize upon this. And they say here, aha. We have an example that the authors of the New Testament were really dummies. They didn't know the difference between the natural elements and supernatural forces. And they were just using the intertest mental developed angiology of the superstitious Jews who assigned, as we know to be true, assigned different elements of the other world, earth and fire and rain and air and so forth, to different angels. And here's John saying, the one who has power over fire, here's the fire angel, right? Wrong. That's not right. You have to look at chapter eight, Revelation, verses three to five, so that you can understand John's own background and don't supply one of your own imagination. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel taketh the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it upon the earth. Here's the judgment of God, as the coals from his own altar are now filled into the censer of this angel, and he cast it on the earth. So John, chapter 14 tells us that another angel, the sixth one, comes out from the altar, the one who has the power over fire, the one you see who can take fire from the altar of God, and, and Cast it on the earth for judgment. And this angel calls with a great voice again, the loud voice of the chapter to him that has the sharp sickle saying, send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. This is parallel to the word to Jesus Christ that the harvest is ready. So the grapes are fully ripe. Don't wait any longer. It's now time to judge. Of course. Fire in the New Testament. Remember, this angel has power over fire. Fire in the New Testament is always associated with the judgment of God. You see that in Matthew 18:8, in Luke 9:54, and obviously in 2 Thessalonians 1:7, where Christ returns in final judgment with flaming fire. All right, now, verses 18 and 19 tell us of this gathering of the grapes. Verse 19 says, the angel cast his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth. And then he took the vintage of the earth and cast it into the winepress, the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside of the city, and there came blood from the winepress. This is a gruesome picture. Of course, John is associating the red color of the wine that would come from treading the grapes with the blood. And what he's saying is that God is going to crush his opposition. We've already seen the wine of wrath imagery in this chapter itself. In chapter 19, verse 15, you'll notice that Christ himself is said to tread the winepress of God's judgment. 19:15. Out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword. With it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. Here it's an angel who treads the winepress. I'm not sure whether we are to distinguish the two different judgments, one in Revelation 19:1 and Revelation 14 because of the different agents, or whether it's just a variety of ways of saying it. Those who refuse to embrace God's offer of salvation, those who repudiate God's Son in favor of the beast, have become the Son of God's enemies. It's a sober message. The vintage is reaped and is cast into the great winepress of God's wrath. That's an Old Testament figure of punishment from God. Look at Isaiah 63, 3, I have trodden the winepress alone. And of the peoples. There was no man with me. Yea, I trod them in mine anger and trampled them in my wrath. And their lifeblood is sprinted, sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. Son of God says, I went to war against my enemies, and I tread them down as in a winepress, and their blood got all over my clothes. Not a very pretty picture. In Lamentations 1:15, as also Joel 3, verse 13, you'll see the winepress of God's wrath referred to as well. Now here in revelation back chapter 14 of Revelation, the winepress's tread has trodden outside of the city. I think probably John is alluding here to Hebrews 13, verse 12, where we find that we are to go outside the city bearing the reproach of Christ. We are to go outside the city wall where he was crucified. And the implication may be that those who do not know the judgment of God upon the Messiah outside the city city will themselves bear that judgment of God outside the city in their own bodies. In Joel 3:12, 14, which we've already looked at, the treading of God is done in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is between Jerusalem and the Mount Olives. The Mount of Olives. In Zechariah 14, the Mount of Olives is said to split in half at the judgment of God. And in particular, verse 10 of Zechariah 14 says that the king's winepresses were on the Mount of Olives. Now, I'm not really sure that all of that Old Testament indication of being outside the city, that the judgment comes, is meant by John, but nevertheless, it is said here, and I think the allusion is more likely to Christ's judgment outside the city, that the winepress is trodden outside the city. And then he says there comes blood from the winepress. Now, that is bad enough. I mean, for a modern Western taste, that is bad enough. And John is really descending to really gross imagery, but he doesn't leave it there. You see, John says that blood comes out of the winepress, but the blood is unto the bridles of the horses as far as 1600 furlongs. 1600 furlongs. You have here described a virtual bloodbath, not in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal sense of blood to the level of the horses bridles for 1600 stadia or furlongs. It's interesting in the midst of. I mean, isn't it obvious what God is saying, the hyperbole here, the exaggeration for the point point of making the point. And it's obvious that God wants to say the judgment is going to be grotesque, and it's going to be universal. And no men will escape. The blood will be to the bridles of the horses. In the book of first Enoch, we read that. We read of a carnage, not the same one here, of a carnage wherein the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners may be the background for John's imagery here, but the fact is that it's a grotesque image and God is using hyperbole to make his point. And yet, in the midst of this, rather than getting the point, the literalist John Walvoord, in his commentary on this book, says that it sure seems hard to believe that there could be that much blood. He says a flow of blood that deep seems impossible, and thus this must mean that the blood is splattered up as high as the bridles of the horses. Now, it's at a point like this where John is being so sober and is trying to make such a point that one can get almost righteously indignant at premillennial interpretation. You see, Walvard's principle of hermeneutics is literal where possible. Now he says, is this a literal battle? Obviously it is. But is it possible that blood could flow to the bridles of the horses? It would seem not. Consequently, John must not be talking about a bloodbath. He must be talking about being splattered with blood. And so he undoes the whole hyperbole, he undoes the whole figure because of his hermeneutical principle of literal where possible. Since he doesn't think this is possible, consequently it must be taken in a different way. Well, enough on that. Why is it that the bloodbath is for 1600 furlongs? 1600 furlongs is about 184 miles, by the way, just to use a modern equivalent. Well, three suggestions have been given more than that, but three that are worth looking at. One says that 1600 furlongs is the approximate length of path Palestine. And the itinerary of Anthony, it says that Palestine was 1664 furlongs. And so that's the approximate length of Palestine. Why we'd want to know the approximate length of Palestine here I'm not sure of. The second suggestion is that this is the square of 4 times the square of 10, 16 times 100. What is 4 in biblical numerology? It's the number of the earth. And John uses that in chapter 7:1, chapter 8, verse 1, and chapter 20, verse 8. What's the number 10 stand for? Completeness. Chapter 5, verse 11, chapter 20, verse 6. And so we have the square of the earth times the square of completion, which is to say the complete earth. But I'm not sure why they're squared. And then another suggestion is that what you have is the square of 40 referred to here. And I won't take the time to look up the Old Testament passages, But in Numbers 14:33 and in Deuteronomy 25:3 you'll see that 40 is associated with punishment. 40 stripes are given to a man in public, for instance. Alright, so you have the square of punishment, which is to say total punishment, Total or complete judgment. Interestingly enough, all three approaches are arrive at the same conclusion. It means that the judgment's total but now which is intended by John is hard to say. I favor the square of four times the square of ten, although I have trouble with it nevertheless. All right, so the angels have now come forth and they have previewed the contents of the prophecy. What can you expect to happen when God gives the second prophecy? When the words of the second prophecy are fully given? Well, you can expect a proclamation of the eternal gospel, the fall of Rome, the eternal torment of the followers of Rome, the universal dominion of Christ through the ingathering of the elect into his kingdom and the severe punishment of those on the earth who are outside of Christ. John says those are the types of messages to be found in the upcoming prophecy. Now we get to chapter 15. What is the function of chapter 15 in the economy of Revelation? John has given us the key figures, chapter 13 and 14 at the beginning he's given us a preview of the contents, chapter 14 to the end. Now he comes to the prelude of the judgment. The judgment is actually associated with the outpouring of the seven bowls of wrath. John now gives us the prelude, prelude to that outpouring. And that fits precisely and is parallel to the outline of the book previously in the first prophecy where John first gives us the setting and main characters, chapters four and five of Revelation, the heavenly court. And then he shows us a preview of the judgment, the seven seals upon the book. And then finally gives us a prelude to judgment. The angel at the altar of God at the tabernacle. Now John comes back to an angel at God's tabernacle saying judgment is about ready to fall. Chapter 15 in the book is the shortest one. But remember that the chapters were added later by a man riding on horseback. Often enough his horse must have stepped into a hole when he was dividing up the verses and chapters. But the chapter as we have it in our Bibles is the shortest one and it introduces to us As I said, the seven angels with the bowls of wrath typifying the actual judgment on Rome. Look at Leviticus 26:21 for a moment, and I think you'll see something of the Old Testament imagery and background to these seven bowls of wrath. Leviticus 26:21. Then if you walk contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. Now John gives a poetic expansion on the curse of the covenant. God will bring seven times as many judgments and plagues upon them for walking contrary to him. And it'll be important as we go through this chapter hurriedly to see the Exodus typology in chapter 15. Going to read of the plagues. Remember the plagues on Egypt. We're going to read of the sea and the crossing of the sea, those who stand upon the sea. We'll read of the engulfing of the pursuers of Israel, the judgment that engulfs men. We'll hear the song of Moses. We'll be reminded of the giving of the law amidst smoke and fire on Sinai. And we'll be reminded of the tent of testimony which accompanied Israel. The wilderness. Clearly John is thinking of the Israel, of the experience of Israel wandering in the wilderness, having come out of Egypt. All right, now just one word of preview about the content of the chapter, and we'll go on verse by verse very quickly. The bowls of wrath are said to be full. Here, look at verse seven. And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels, seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God. God's wrath has been filling up over the years against Rome. And now it is full and it's ready to overflow. Moreover, no intercession for the pagan empire will avail any longer. Verse 8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. None was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished. That's an awesome message, isn't it? God fills his temple with smoke, the smoke of his holy presence, and will allow none to approach him until the judgment is finished. God won't even hear a prayer in behalf of the Roman empire now. People shall now swear allegiance to a new king. And all nations shall worship Christ as a new worldwide empire, superseding Rome is given to Him. Verses 3 and 4. They sing the new song, the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are thy ways. Thou King of the ages, who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name. For thou only art holy for all the nations shall come and worship before thee. For thy righteous acts have been made manifest. Rome no longer will have any prayers received in her behalf. Christ has now come as the king and will replace Rome with his own empire. That's the message of chapter 15. Let's look at it verse by verse. And I saw another sign in the heaven, another indication, another heavenly indication, great and marvelous. And this sign is seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God. The awe inspiring sign is that of the certainty and the completeness of God's retribution. Seven angels holding the wrath of God, ready to be poured out. And the plagues that this wrath is constituted by are the last plagues, meaning that they complete God's wrath against Rome. The only thing remaining after this is the final judgment. And then verses two through four are an interlude. And I saw as it were a sea of glass, a crystal sea mingled with fire. Perhaps that is an allusion to the Red Sea. Anyway, a sea mingled with fire, a crystal sea. And them that come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing upon the sea of glass, having harps of God. Here is the new Israel of God, delivered over the sea by God to be with him, to know his presence. They are the ones who have prevailed over the beast, and they stand upon the crystal pavement. They are the overcomers of chapters two and three. Those who are victorious and are rewarded according to those chapters with the tree of life and the presence of the Lamb. And they sing with their harps the song of Moses. The servant of God put a testimony to Moses that that oppositional phrase should be used. He's called the servant of God. We could do far worse, couldn't we? To have God tell us on the final day, well done, thou faithful servant. All right, Moses, the servant of God and the song of the Lamb. And notice what the song is. It's a song of deliverance which is based in Exodus, chapter 15, verses 1 to 18. Let's look at Exodus 15 very quickly. Exodus 15 is a song sung by Israel after what? Anybody remember? After Israel passed through the Red Sea, they sang a song. Exodus 15. Beginning at verse one through verse 18, I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. And Jehovah is my strength and song. And he has become My salvation. This is my God. And I will praise him. My Father's God. And I will exalt him. Jehovah is a man of war. Jehovah is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea. And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea. The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Jehovah, dashes and pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency. Thou hast overthrown them that rise up against thee. You sent forth thy wrath. It consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils. The waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind. The sea covered them. They sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness. Fearful in praises. Doing wonders that will be repeated? You see in the Song of the Lamb, as we've read it. Who is like unto Jehovah? Thou stretchest out thy right hand. The earth swalloweth them. Thou in thy loving kindness has led the people that thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation. The peoples have heard, and they tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants and Philistia. Then were the chiefs of Edom dismayed. The mighty men of Moab trembling, taking hold upon them. All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. Terror and dread falleth upon them. And the greatness of thine arm. They are as still a stone. Till thy people pass over, O Jehovah. Till the people pass over that thou hast purchased. Thou wilt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance. The place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. Jehovah shall reign forever and ever. What a mighty song of triumph and victory. We know we'll be planted in the land. We know that you'll complete your promises. We know that you'll be victorious over the earth. All the nations are trembling round about. Because of what you did to those who pursued us, God. Your vengeance has made fearful the nations. And we will be victorious and we are going to occupy the land. All right. Now, John says, yes, there are going to be some who are martyred for the Lord. Yes, Rome will have its day. But then God's temple will fill with smoke, and he will no longer hear intercession for that empire, and he will judge it. And in that day will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty. God has called the Almighty in the New Testament only one other time outside of the Book of Revelation, and he's called Almighty nine times in this book. Here is the Almighty God who has great and marvelous works and his ways are righteous and true, the one who is the eternal King, the King of the ages. And then who shall not fear who is like unto Jehovah Israel sang in the wilderness and now we sing who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name. And there are three reasons why there will be none left who shall not glorify the Lord's name. The first is because you are holy here. That doesn't mean the sinlessness of God, doesn't mean his moral quality per se, but because he is set apart, he is exalted and transcendent. This victorious Lord is holy. And then the second explanation for all the nations shall come and worship before thee. I'll return to that. And the third explanation for thy righteous acts have been made manifest. The three causal clauses here are all taken from the Old Testament virtually. They're all virtual quotes from the Old Testament. But I want to look at particular Psalm 86:9 and then at Malachi 1:11 as we close today's lesson. Psalm 86:9 is but one place in the Old Testament that gives this message. There are many others. All the nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord, and they shall glorify thy name. We cannot deny that in the Old Testament there's an expectation of universal dominion, and that dominion means not that there's going to be one believer in every nation on the earth, so that there is a representative multitude. It means all the nations will be the disciples of the Lord. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord. All the nations are going to do this to the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Malachi 1:11 expresses the same confidence of the Old Testament saint that God's kingdom will be victorious in time and in space, in history, over all the nations. For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles. And in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts. The sun will not set upon the kingdom of Jesus Christ, because every nation will belong to him. He will have subdued every nation to his ends, and pure worship will be offered. Notice again, against all millennial expectations, this is not representative worship. It is universal worship. Moreover, it is not simply the profession of Christianity Christendom. It is rather that pure incense and an offering is given. The sacrifice acceptable to God will be found. All right. In Revelation we read that with the fall of the Roman Empire, God will institute the song of the Lamb, the victorious song of Israel of old. And that song shall include for all the nations shall come and worship before thee. Chapter 19 of the book of Revelation will show us how Christ with the sword proceeding from his mouth, conquers all the nations before God. The Gospel conquers the nations. Well, let's finish chapter 15 here at verse 5, after these things I saw. And the temple of the tabernacle, actually, that is the tent of testimony, which is what the tabernacle was called in the wilderness. Remember, before it was put in a permanent spot, it was called the Tent of Testimony. So again John is thinking of that victorious song of Exodus 15, crossing through the Red Sea. And he thinks of the Tent of Testimony as he refers to the temple. And the temple of the Tent of Testimony in heaven was opened, and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had seven plagues, arrayed with precious stone, pure and bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles, just like the high priest and the priests, Levites of old marched around Jericho, so come the seven angels out of the temple. And one of the four living creatures, one of the seraphim that guard the holiness of God's throne, gives unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. And then, as I've already said, the temple was filled with smoke, even as there was smoke on Mount Sinai with the giving of the law. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. None was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished. I said there was smoke upon Mount Sinai. You might also recall that in Exodus the 40th chapter, the tabernacle itself had a fiery cloud upon it. And in Isaiah, the sixth chapter, verse four, as Isaiah is in the very throne room of God. He says that it was filled with smoke. All right. So from the very presence of God will go forth the decree of judgment against Rome. And at that point there will be no further intercession. No one will be allowed to enter into the temple in heaven until God has finished his wrath against Rome. We did it. We finished chapter 14 and went through chapter 15. That's because chapter 15 was so short and it's a prelude to the Judgment. We're going to get bogged down in some detail again in chapters 16, 17 and 18. But I still try to go through it fairly quickly over the next couple weeks so that we can spend the remainder of our time in the very important chapters 19 and 20 and then take a final look at the end of our term at the judgment of God found in chapters 21 and 22, the eternal state. Are there any questions before we break this morning? Yes. Didn't the High Priest fill the holy spoiler with smoke so he could handle the Shekinah glory? Didn't you fill the flame of smoke? Well, there was smoke from the altar of incense that was in the temple, but I'm not. I may not be remembering correctly, but I don't recall that the Holy of Holies was so filled with smoke that nobody could approach that would prevent the High Priest on the day of Atonement from doing his work. What God is saying is there will be no atonement and there will be no intercession. Nobody will approach me.