The 7 Bowls/Censer-Angels – Revelation 15:1-16:21

September 29, 2021

Revelation 15:1-8

1. Chapter 15 is introducing the 3rd vision which begins in chapter 16.

2. In this 3rd & final sevenfold vision, the 7 scenes are introduced by an angel with a BOWL

OR CENSER.

3. In this 3rd vision, the first five scenes depict events that take place co-currently, each

covers the same period, from Christ’s ascension up to ARMAGEDDON.

4. The sixth scene describes the last BATTLE, which takes place just prior to the end of this

present world at CHRIST’S return.

5. The seventh scene envisions the END at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

6. The purpose of the third earthly vision is like that of the second, namely, to show God’s

WRATH and JUDGMENT against the ENEMIES of His church.

7. These seven angels with the bowls/censers are on a mission from God. On behalf of God

and for the sake of the church, they herald the last great effort of God to move the

human race to REPENTANCE before IT’S TOO LATE.

8. The BATTLE which John sees taking place is on a “sea of glass mixed with fire”.

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9. The “sea of glass mixed with fire” is a reminder of the HORRIFYING warfare with its

suffering that the people of God on earth are experiencing.

10. Though experiencing suffering and defeat on earth, even as JESUS did, the church is

totally confident of VICTORY because of Christ’s victory, even though the victory is not

apparent while on earth.

11. The victorious people of Christ are singing a song of victory which is what MOSES led the

people in after being delivered through the RED SEA. The people in Revelation are

praising God for DELIVERANCE from their sins.

12. The “Song of Moses” in Exodus 15:1-21 emphasizes God’s great redemptive action by

which He delivered His people from the tyranny and suffering in EGYPT.

13. This song of Moses and of the Lamb celebrates the deliverance from the enemy in any

particular suffering at any time throughout the journey of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH on

earth. Therefore, this song is different than the “new song” that was sung in Revelation

14:3.

14. Another awesome thing about this song is it UNITES the Old Testament church (the

song of Moses) to the New Testament church (the hymn of the Lamb) in one grand unity.

15. Verses 5-8 is ANOTHER connection to the OT with the words, “The sanctuary of the tent

of witness/testimony.” The Tabernacle was sometimes called “the tent of the testimony”

and “the tent of meeting/assembly”.

16. Tabernacle (“dwelling place”, “tent”, “hut”) is one of those words to pay attention to

when you come across it in the Bible. This was God’s DWELLING place where He would

come and meet with His people. Why would He do this? What word do we use for

“tabernacle” to describe where God meets with us?

● 17 “You shall make a mercy seat[a] of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be

its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two

cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends

of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on

the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the

cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings

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above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to

another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.  21 And

you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall

put the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from

above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of

the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in

commandment for the people of Israel. – Exodus 25:17-22

17. The “HOLY of HOLIES” in that first Tabernacle God was giving His people a picture of

HEAVEN.

● 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his

glory, glory as of the only Son [a] from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John

1:14

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19. SMOKE being associated with God is not new in the Bible.

● 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended

on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole

mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder

and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in

thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain.

And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. –

Exodus 19:18-20

● 6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and

lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the

seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he

covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]

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4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called,

and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am

a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my

eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” – Isaiah 6:1-5

20. NO ONE can enter the HEAVENLY TABERNACLE until what happens? NOT UNTIL THE 7

PLAGUES of the 7 ANGELS are finished_

Revelation 16:1-16

1. Who do you think the loud voice is? THE VOICE IS GOD’S

2. The severity of God’s judgments will INTENSIFY as the end of the world at Christ’s return

draws nearer. This is the overall emphasis in the third vision of earthly events.

3. While some of the events presented in this third vision repeat those in the second, in

the third vision they are all intensified in order to portray God’s FINAL warning of the

seriousness of his judgment at the End.

4. The First Bowl – painful boils

● It is not that all people at any given time will be plagued by them, nor that an

individual will suffer from them throughout all of life, but they will be a constant

MENACE, and many will suffer from them.

5. The Second & Third Bowls – blood from a corpse in the seas and freshwater

● While the human race itself is not directly struck, this “blood from a corpse” is a

HORRIFYING plague that strikes the seas. Whatever form this plague takes at any

given time, it will affect all in the seas.

● The rivers and springs and lakes will become BITTER and POISONOUS and thus

unfit to DRINK.

6. The Fourth Bowl – the sun scorches

● Under God’s sovereignty and authority over all creation, the sun is now given

such POWER and AUTHORITY with its own inherent ability to scorch human

beings and inflict extreme burning pain.

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● It appears that this excessive heat from the sun will not kill HUMANITY but only

increase to the point that at various times many people will cry out in their

SUFFERING without any apparent relief.

● Verse 9 – These general statements are primarily about UNBELIEVERS - those

with the mark of the BEAST. We, Christians might also suffer from the scorching

heat, but we would hopefully ACKNOWLEDGE our SIN and REPENT.

7. The Fifth Bowl – darkness

● Since the worshipers of the beast and its image REFUSE to repent, even though

struck by these various plagues, God now strikes the object of their WORSHIP

AND ALLEGIANCE.

● They are struck by God’s judgment in order to warn the people to cease their

worship of the beast and to come instead to the only TRUE GOD – THE TRIUNE

GOD

● 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes

to the Father except through me. – John 14:6

● 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under

heaven given among men[a] by which we must be saved. – Acts 4:12

8. The Sixth Bowl - Armageddon

● The Euphrates River is dried up in order to prepare the way from the East to

invade and surround the people of GOD.

● Some of the powerful enemies of God’s people came from the East.

BABYLON, MEDIA & PERSIA, GREEK, ROMAN

● The drying up of the river might remind us of another time when something

dried up. GOD DRIED UP THE RED SEA WHERE HIS PEOPLE WALKED ACROSS ON

DRY GROUND AND DID THE SAME TO THE JORDAN RIVER WHEN HIS WALKED

INTO THE PROMISED LAND.

● This also shows us that this 16:12 fulfills the prophesy in Isaiah 11:15.

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● And the Lord will utterly destroy [a]

the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,

and will wave his hand over the River [b]

with his scorching breath,[c]

and strike it into seven channels,

and he will lead people across in sandals.

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● Again, we see the UNHOLY trinity (DRAGON, BEAST, FALSE PROPHET) who

are the ones behind these “kings from the east”.

● Who also makes an appearance in this section discussing the sixth bowl?

JESUS

Armageddon is an actual geographical place. It

means MOUNTAIN OF MEGIDDO. It is a

mountainous terrain close to the ancient

Canaanite city, Megiddo. (Judges 5:19, 2 Kings

23:29-30

● Even though this is a reference to a

real place in the past, John lifts it out of any

historical context and uses it as a symbol for this

last battle before the end.

● The word, Armageddon, is a prime

example of how CONTEXT is so important in the

book of Revelation.

● Thus, Armageddon is used here

not as the designation of a geographical place,

but as a TERRIFYING metaphor of a war that will cover the expanse of the entire

earth

Revelation 16:17-21

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1. Seventh Bowl – God’s voice saying this is the End

2. This is the 4th time John receives a view of the End.

● 1 - When the Lamb opened the 6th seal, John sees the end in terms of fear and

terror it evokes.

● 2 - When the 7th Angel blew his trumpet, John sees the end in terms of the joy it

brings to God’s people.

● 3 – When John is given the interlude between the 2nd & 3rd sevenfold visions,

John is given a depiction of the End as a great harvest.

● 4 – John is given a prophetic picture of the End in the seventh scene of this 3rd

sevenfold vision of events on earth, which is introduced by the 7th angel pouring

out the bowl.

3. The voice from the heavenly throne shouts out that everything necessary has been

accomplished so that the End can now come.

4. Through the first 6 bowls of God’s wrath have shown to mankind His displeasure and

anger over their allegiance to the dragon, beast, and false prophet.

5. Through those plagues God has given the reason why humankind should repent, and He

has given the people time to do just that!

6. The 7th plague/bowl proclaims emphatically that the time is up, and it is now time for

the FINAL JUDGMENT.

7. What jumps out at you from verse 17? GOD SAYS “IT IS DONE”

8. Where have we seen the visual John gives us in verse 18 before? EXODUS 19:16-20,

REVELATION 4:5

9. What does “the cup filled with the wine of the fury of God’s wrath” symbolize and who

must drink it?

● This phrase is symbolic of God’s judgment. Babylon the Great symbolizes all the

enemies of God’s people WHO must drink that cup. Revelation 16:9,21

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