Victory of God, Revelation Lesson 8

"Brutal battles were fought by our forefathers so that we do not need to go through it ourselves," a friend remarked casually over ice-cream sometime ago. This astute observation was made in response to our discussion over what the world today thought of wars and violence.





Given that this friend is considerably younger, I shouldn't be surprised that our sentiments about life and hardship ran somewhat discordant. My parents lived through World War Two and horror stories of the much-feared Japanese occupation were a staple during dinnertime. My friend, almost a decade younger, grew up in the relatively easy boom of the 90s. In that way, he was considerably removed from the ugly memories of atrocities that up to two generations ago, kept everyday folks frozen in terror.

Time helps us forget.


And if it can water down such deep sentiments in just two generations, think of how far removed we are from the original readers of Revelation, the first-century Jews - 2000 years apart from us.

Here in this chapter, we will try to get into the shoes (and minds) of the original readers of Revelation. And when we understand what the text meant to them, we can appreciate it for what it would mean to us, too.


Observations
Chapter 15


Another set of visions are opened with this prelude. The setting is in heaven and the seven angels are about to pour out the final judgement of God. A victory song was sung by the overcomers. In the early church, the day of a person's martyrdom was called the day of his victory. The real victory was not to live for safety, to evade trouble, or to cautiously or prudently preserve life. The real victory is to face the worst that evil can do, and if need be, to be faithful unto death (Barclay).

And the seven angels move out, each carrying a bowl. These bowls of judgements come directly from God's presence and have the full sanction of God. The bowls also refer to the prayer of the saints (8:5). The prayers of God's people even though insignificant, are important! They have a part in bringing about the final state of affairs.



The power and glory of God was seen in the thick smoke surrounding the temple. This is final. There is no more intercession possible.


Chapter 16



The swift, unretractable judgements of God are poured out full wrath. In case we are wondering, God's punishment fits the crime. Whereas in the cycle of trumpets only a-third (a significant number) of nature is destroyed, in the cycle of bowls, the extent of the damage is complete and final. We find that although Bowls #1- #4 deal with the destruction of nature, Bowls #5 - #7 are "directly political". They are aimed at the destruction of the operations of the powers of evil.


Meanwhile, the powers of evil assemble. These are kings and world leaders whom are gathered to make battle against God. Then, verse 15 in a parenthesis refers to Jesus speaking as first-person "See, I am coming like a thief!..." This implies that there are believers who will be caught unprepared. They will be ashamed at a critical time in history. Compare this with the parable of the 10 virgins in Matt 25.






Then, of course we arrive at the oft-quoted location in last-days theory - Harmageddon. Har means mountain in Greek, and Megiddo is the name of a city in Manasseh. In this area, God overthrew the Canaanite kings by miraculously aiding Deborah and Barak in the account in Judges 4. Just the mention of the famous battleground or Armageddon to a Jew would suggest a horrific slaughter. If we follow a consistent thread in our studies, the location Armageddon is symbolic for a hopeless situation with a great appearance of the gathering of evil... where God will overturn the situation and win the victory!

Thoughts


I am grateful I live in an era of relative peace. I don't mind being subjected to horror war stories during mealtimes, but honestly, don't get me involved in the ugly, violent battles that define history, people and places.


The bible says however, that christians are already at war. This is a spiritual war and each was recruited the day they became believers in Christ. And God's promises still stand. At the point of impossibility, He will overthrow evil with a resounding victory and claim His own.




Like the original readers of Revelation, we are confronted with the realisation that there is a decisive moment in history.

And we decide which side are we on.