"And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. "
Revelation 15v6-8
Attention is now drawn to the seven angels with the seven last plagues as quoted in verse 1. We will follow the vision in four different stages:
- Where they came from. The scene is the temple in heaven, the inner sanctuary, that which speaks of the sacred presence of God, untouched by sin, and untarnished by imperfection. This vision of angels emerging from the holy presence of God to do battle on earth mirrors the story in Joshua 6 when priests of the Lord, bearing the ark of God, walked around the city of Jericho and brought it down. What happened at Jericho is about to take place on a worldwide scale. The angels of His presence will now confront the rebellion of the world. The issue is divine judgment; for long the faithful have cried for God to move against the ungodliness of the world. The ages old desire in the hearts of God's saints is articulated by Isaiah the prophet in chapter 64v1-2. "Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy presence!" This is about to happen here.
- How they were dressed. Attention is drawn to their garb; it is not the dress of war for these angels fear nothing of reprisals from earth; it is the dress of the temple proclaiming the holiness of God to a world who live in rebellion against Him and can do nothing to Him in their defence. What they wear reflects the character of God . They are dressed in linen which was the priestly garb and speaks of righteousness (refer chapter 19v8). What is about to be enacted is righteous; the holy angels who enact it are righteous. The linen garb is said to be pure and white. It is pure in that it is unmixed with any foreign material; there is no hidden agenda with God; it is white, the word is bright, dazzling, splendid. Their dress speaks of divine excellence. Their breasts are girded with golden girdles. The breast speaks of compassion, but this is not any soft human compassion, this is not basic human emotion; any compassion shown is firmly girded with the golden girdle which speaks of God's idea of right and wrong. This judgment will be according to God's view of our just desserts. Divine mercy has run its course the day of vengeance has arrived.
- What they receive. The seven angels receive from one of the four living creatures, seven golden vials full of the wrath of God. These vials (or bowls) contain the full strength anger of God in all its unfettered power. The thought is frightening; seven bowls full of the wrath of God. There are two words in the Greek for wrath. There is the word "orge" as in Romans 1v18 which means a settled attitude towards sin which never changes. The other word "thumos" (which is the word here) means passion, hard breathing, ferocity, indignation. It carries the idea of "frothing at the mouth." This is the word used to described Divine rage against humanity. An illustration of it appears in Ezekiel 38v18 "And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that My fury shall come up in My face." This anger of God is spoken of in the following scriptures; Psalm 69v24, Psalm 78v49, Isaiah 10v5, 13v5, 26v20, 30v27, 66v14, Jeremiah 10v10, Nahum 1v6, Romans 2v8.
- The effect of this on all of heaven. The earth has seen the global flood in the days of Noah, the destruction of the cities of the plain. The rise and fall of many nations and kingdoms, and God's anger against His own chosen people Israel in the sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD; but never has there been witnessed anything like this. No one was able to enter into the temple during all of this period until the seven plagues were fulfilled. The reason was that such was the Divine rage with the world that the inner sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from the power of God as He poured His fury on a godless world. When God is in this mode no one dare come near Him!(Exodus 19v12-13).
- Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
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