A Song of Justice and Mercy (Rev. 15 & 16)

On February 11, 2024, the San Francisco 49ers played the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII. At the end of regulation, the score was tied 23 to 23, meaning the game was going into overtime. There was a coin toss to determine who would receive the ball and have possession for the first series of plays. Since San Francisco was the visiting team, they got to call the coin toss. They won and decided to receive the ball, which meant they would go on offense first.

Normally, that decision would make a lot of sense because, under the NFL’s regular season overtime rules, if the first team to get the ball scores a touchdown, they automatically win before the opposing offense ever gets on the field. However, in March 2022, the NFL changed the overtime rules for playoff games so that each team would have a chance to go on offense at least once during the overtime period. With that rule change, the team that played second actually had a bit of an advantage because they could see what the other team did and then only needed to do better.

The decision the 49ers’ coordinators made was to receive the ball first. While the coaching staff was aware of the rule changes, the entire team wasn’t fully informed. On the other hand, the Kansas City Chiefs were aware of the rule change, and their whole team had practiced for this exact situation. When San Francisco made their decision, it gave Kansas City the advantage. The 49ers kicked a field goal on their possession, and then the Kansas City Chiefs got their turn. They drove down the field, scored a touchdown, and won the Super Bowl.

They familiarized themselves with the rules so that they could practice for all eventualities, and the same applies to life. The problem, however, is that we, as human beings, do not know the future. Fortunately, God has given us His playbook for the future in the book of Revelation. By familiarizing ourselves with God’s playbook, we can be prepared for any and all eventualities. When we fail to do this—whether in football or in life—we give the advantage to our opponent.

One thing to mention is that as we go through the book of Revelation and study God’s playbook for the future, we see that He not only provides His plan but also reveals the devil’s playbook. As we grow in joyful confidence in the Lord, it is likely that we will face spiritual warfare. In fact, the truth is that we will face spiritual warfare—it is just a matter of when. Satan does not want us to have joyful confidence in the Lord, so he attacks us in areas or at times when we are weakest. However, coming under spiritual attack is actually a good thing because it indicates that our hearts are open to God and our souls are spiritually alive. Satan does not attack those he already has in his fold.

Here are some quick things to do when experiencing spiritual warfare:

1. Cry out to God in prayer.
2. Cover your heart and mind with Scripture—read the Bible.
3. Connect with other Christians so you are not facing the attack alone.
4. Curate your influences—be aware of what is entering your mind and heart through your eyes and ears, as these things can significantly impact you.

Today, we are going to dig into the third vision in Revelation, where we see seven angels and seven censers. This can be found in chapters 15 and 16. Next week, we will conclude this series on Revelation with God’s grand finale, which is covered in chapters 17 through 22.

One note to make here is that some translations refer to “seven angels and seven bowls” instead of censers. This is because a censer looks like a bowl. It typically contains burning incense, such as myrrh or frankincense, and has a cover that can be lifted off so that the contents can be poured out. That is what happens in this vision in chapters 15 and 16.

The time frame described here spans from Jesus’ ascension to His second coming. The first five scenes occur during this period. The sixth scene describes the final battle before Jesus returns, referred to as Armageddon. The seventh scene represents the end when Jesus returns.

This third vision shares similarities with the ten plagues God brought upon Egypt in the book of Exodus, as well as with the plagues described in the second vision. The purpose of these plagues is to move hardened hearts toward repentance. However, this third vision is more intense—it is God’s final warning before the end.

So first of all, we’re going to dig into scenes one to five, and the first censer-angel pours out their sensor, and we see that from the time of Jesus ascension to when he comes back again, painful sores are going to be a constant problem, and more and more people will suffer from them. Then with the second angel, we see that the oceans become increasingly unfit for humans or animals, and we rely on the oceans for moisture and for food, and so that’s going to have an impact on humanity.

The third censer-angel pours out its bowl of incense, and then rivers and springs become polluted to the point that it’s unfit for human consumption, and many die from drinking this water. Keep in mind, this is over that entire span from Jesus’ ascension to his Second Coming. Then what we see in the Bible, the passage that we’re looking at today is there’s a response from the angels that are in charge of the waters, and they cry out that God is just in doing what he’s doing and striking the water. And then God’s people, in their prayers, respond by saying, “Amen.” The incense altar represents the prayers of God’s people, because incense is often used to symbolize our prayers ascending to heaven.

The fourth censer-angel pours out its bowl, and the intensity of the sun increases to the point that people will experience painful burns, and yet still, most people do not repent, and they curse God instead with the fifth censer-angel. What happens is there’s darkness for the beast of the sea and those who worship it. We don’t know exactly what form that darkness will take, but there will be darkness, and yet most beast worshipers will refuse to repent, and they curse God instead. 

And then we look at scenes six and seven in the latter part of Revelation, and the sixth censer-angel pours out its bowl, and what we see is the final battle of Armageddon. This will take place shortly before Jesus returns, and when that sixth censer bowl is poured out, what happens is the Euphrates River dries up, and several kings lead armies against God’s people. These kings are deceived by demonic spirits that come out of the mouth of the unholy trinity. I refer to this unholy trinity in a recent post. They are the dragon, the beast from the sea, which is the social, political beast, and the beast from the earth, which is the religious beast, and that latter beast is called the False Prophet. Later on, that second beast, the beast from the earth, will be called the Great Prostitute. But it’s the same entity. And in Matthew 24 Jesus warned that in the last day before their end, before the end, there would be many false Messiahs and false prophets who would perform signs by which they would deceive many. And so that’s what’s being talked about here in the book of Revelation.

Now note that though real place names and real directions are being used in this section of Revelation. They are spiritual markers, not geographical ones. For the final battle will take place over the entire expanse of the earth and all of humanity will be caught up in it. We won’t escape just because our postal code isn’t “666 Armageddon”.

Now, the enemy’s intent is to destroy the people of God, but that enemy will not prevail, because Jesus promises that He will come like a thief in the night, and the victory belongs to the Lord, and His kingdom shall endure forever.

So then the seventh bowl is poured out and the end comes. Now this is the fourth time that John sees the end of the world happening in a vision. The first time was when the sixth seal was opened in that first vision. The second time is when the seventh angel blew his trumpet in the second vision. The third time was during that pause between the second and third visions, when warfare and heaven was revealed to us, and then the implications for us on Earth were also described.

Now, when this seventh censer bowl is poured out, it’s poured out into the air, and the Earth’s entire atmosphere is struck, and God cries out, “It is finished!” Does that remind you of anything? God is declaring that time is up, the end is here, and now is the time for final judgment. And just as Jesus cried out “It is finished!” from the cross, to declare that all is now complete for a new beginning with a new life and a new resurrection, so also God is saying “It is finished!” to declare that the great gift that Jesus has won for us, resurrection, life in the New Heaven and Earth is about to begin. 

And so God comes to earth for the final judgment, and earthquakes and hail storms and others natural phenomena accompany him, and they devastate the entire Earth. And Babylon here is the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth combined and together, they represent those political, social and religious entities that have come under the dragon’s influence, or the devil’s influence, and try to destroy God’s people, and here we see that Babylon is demolished. Now many are killed by these natural phenomena, yet some survive and still persist in the rebellion by cursing God. 

So what does this all mean for us? So last week, at our AGM, I revealed that I’ve been diagnosed with insulin resistance, which means that my cells and my body are not responding to insulin that the way that they should. So the diagnosis is new, but the warning signs were not I’ve had a couple of blood tests that indicated high blood glucose, and I’ve had a few conversations with my doctor and nurse practitioner about this.

And as I’ve thought about it, here’s the kinds of things that I have thought these blood tests and these conversations are like warning signs for me, and the question that I need to ask myself is, how many Warning signs do I need before I make changes, because the sooner I make changes, the more options I will have. The longer I delay making the changes then I need to make those options are going to narrow up smaller and smaller, and eventually I will have no options and somebody else is going to make decisions for me. So it’s better for me to make the changes now.

In the very same way, God is warning the world through the book of Revelation that changes need to be made. And when I use the term “the world,” what I mean is all people and all things that are opposed to God. I’m not talking about God’s people, the Church, when I use the term “the world.” God is warning the world that changes need to be made. God’s anger against sin will result in consequences in this life, but the ultimate consequences for sin, which are eternal separation from God, will come at the end of time. Therefore, those who are opposed to God need to repent of their sin and turn back to him before life in this world ends and repentance is no longer an option. 

But for those of us who follow Jesus, God gives us a sure and certain promise of hope in Revelation. Yes, there will be times when we will experience great suffering and sorrow and even death in this life, because we share in sinful humanity. There will be times when we will experience the consequences of sin in this life, and because we are part of Christ’s Church, there will be times when evil will attack us. But Jesus rules from heaven, and he assures us that in the end, he will make all things right.

The life that we have in him now, which is hidden, will be brought to fullness in the life to come, and we will live with Him forever in the new heaven and earth, and Jesus suffering death and resurrection and ascension is our guarantee that he will do that, because he came into this broken and hurting world, to become one of us, to live a perfect human life, to win righteousness for us to suffer and die a sinners death on a cross, to win forgiveness for us to rise from the grave, to defeat death for us and to ascend into heaven to rule over all creation for us. And in the end, Jesus will return to this world in a visible way. He will rid the world of evil, the devil and all of his demonic minions. He will judge those who oppose God and harm his church, he will raise us to life, restored and renewed to live with Him forever in the new heaven and earth.

And so just as a championship football team scours the rule book and practices for all eventualities. So we also scour God’s playbook, the Bible, for the future plan that he has, and we practice for all eventualities, because God has already promised us how the future will unfold. So let us live as if God’s promises are really true, because they really are. And let us live as people of faith, hope and love. Amen.