SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/4/2015
9:09 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Plan of God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
15:5-8
Message of the
verses: “5 After these things I looked, and the temple
of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven
plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded
around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures
gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives
forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God
and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven
plagues of the seven angels were finished.”
The following is a quote from my Spiritual diary dated
September 8, 2005 “At the beginning of the chapter there was a reference to the
seven angels who had the last judgments in their hands about to throw them down
onto planet earth, and with these judgments God’s wrath will be complete. Then there was a picture of those in heaven
giving praise to God in the middle of this chapter, and now the final
preparation for the deliverance of these final judgments. Earlier in this book the saints who had been
killed for their testimony about Christ had ask the question when would God judge
those who had done these awful things to them, and now that question is
answered. God has always had a plan and
His plan will be completed in His own time table.
“John now looks up in heaven at God’s temple, which is
opened. This is God’s Holy of Holies
where He resides. Out of this Temple
comes the seven angels who will deliver these last seven judgments upon planet
earth. They are dressed is a similar way
to which the OT priests used to dress.
They had shinning linen and wore golden sashes round their chests. Dr. Macarthur gives these meanings for their
dress: “The fabric represents holiness
and purity (Rev. 19:14). These are belts
or girdles, running from the shoulder to the waist, that each of the 7 angels
wear over his garments. The bands demonstrate
riches, royalty, and untarnished glory.’”
Next is a quote from my Spiritual Diary dated September
9, 2005 “The seven angels each received a golden vial, which was a small saucer
type shallow bowel that was the same type of bowl used in the OT temple worship
of the Jews, and these bowls were filled with the last seven plagues of the
wrath of God which will be thrown down upon the earth. The angels were in the Temple area that is in
heaven and it became full of smoke from the glory of God and from the power of
God. John then writes that no man would
be allowed into this Temple area until all of the seven plagues were thrown
down upon the earth and thus finished.
“Perhaps one of the reasons that no man was allowed in
the Temple area is because of the awfulness of what was going to happen in that
area of heaven and God wanted to keep it to those who were fulfilling these
judgments. I somehow want to compare
this to the privacy of what went on in the Holy of Holies once a year when the
temple was on the earth and only the High Priest was allowed in there once a
year, but I am not sure that these two events have much in common.” Let me say that another thought just came to
me about why no one was allowed in the temple which is in heaven and that is
that perhaps it is similar to when God took His wrath out on Jesus Christ while
on the cross and the earth when black as there was not light at that time
because God was taking His furry out on Jesus Christ for the sins of those who
would confess Him as Savior and Lord.
What we see in these verses is the plan of God, and we
have talked about certain things that this plan involved which is that God will
take back control of planet earth so that He can place His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ on the throne in Jerusalem for one thousand years as this is the promised
kingdom to the Jews and the kingdom that Jesus told us to pray for in what we
commonly call the “Lord’s Prayer.”
According to Matthew 25:41 which reads “"Then He
will also say to those on His left, ’Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the
eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels,” God has
prepared hell for the devil and his angels, but as this verse tells us there
will be humans in there too, those whom God will sentence to eternal punishment
there. God’s holy angels will
participate in this judgment according to Matthew 13:41-43, and 49-50: “41 “The Son of Man will send forth His
angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those
who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” “49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the
angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and
will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.” (Really not a pleasant
thing to think about, but perhaps the reading of these verses will cause some
to repent and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.)
As we look at the beginning of verse five we read “After these things I looked,”
and remember when we see these words that John is going to introduce a
startling dramatic new vision, as this is the way he prepares his readers to
look at something new. We have been
looking at the redeemed saints but now something as drawn Johns attention away
from them, as this new vision focuses in on these last seven judgments that as
stated earlier will satisfy the wrath of God.
In chapter sixteen, which hopefully we will begin tomorrow we will begin
to look at these seven bowl judgments. Remember
this will be the last “woe” that was spoken of way back in the “Re 11:14 The
second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”
I have covered what will happen during this time as I
quoted from earlier SD’s which were from September of 2005 and so I want to
close this SD with the closing words of John MacArthur that he wrote in his
commentary for these verses: “The scene
described in this chapter establishes the background for the final, definitive
judgments, poured out in chapter 16.
Once the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ because of what He
did for sinners; in the future, wrath will be poured out on sinners because of
what they did to Jesus Christ. It is
true that ‘The Lord is…patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but
for all to come to repentance’ (2 Pet. 3:9), and that even in His wrath, He
will remember mercy (cf. Hab. 3:2). Yet
mercy refused brings judgment. By the
time God pours out the seven bowls on His final wrath on earth, sinners will
have been warned repeatedly to repent.
They will have experienced numerous terrifying judgments, which they
will acknowledge came from God (6:16-17).
They will have heard the saving message of the gospel preached by the
144,000 Jewish evangelists, the two witnesses, other redeemed Gentiles and Jews,
even an angel flying in midheaven. Yet,
tragically, they will harden their hearts and fall into calamity (Prov.
28:14). They will pay a fearful price
for failing to heed the Scripture’s warning:
‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’ (Heb. 3:15;
4:7).” There are several reasons that I
write my Spiritual Diaries everyday and then post them on my blogs, and one of
them is to get the Word out that time is short, (I am not setting any dates,
but every day brings us closer to the return of Jesus Christ at the Rapture of
the Church), and it is my desire that people know about this so that they do
not have to go through the horrible things that we have been learning about
from this last book in God’s Word. I
desire for people to grow (2 Peter 3:18), and for believers to experience revival
in their hearts so that they can pass on what they are learning to others, so
that others too will receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Salvation, growth, and revival are three
things I pray for everyday for those who look at the Spiritual Diaries I write.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As I look at
these words in this section about the final judgment of God I look back at the
time when God took out His wrath on the Lord Jesus Christ for me and all others
who will confess Him as Savior and Lord, and I am thankful for that, more
thankful than I can describe.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to get the message out through
my Spiritual Diaries that many will be saved, grow, and experience revival.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Fourteen” (Genesis 29:18-30).
Today’s Bible
question: “When Paul was bound in
Caesarea, why did the Jews want him brought to Jerusalem for trial?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/4/2015 9:49 AM
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