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Seven Angels With Seven Plagues
(Revelation 15:1 - 16:21)
Chapter 15

"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God."                                                                                                                                 (Revelation 15:1).

After making mention of this "sign in heaven" John proceeds with a brief summarization of the victory of the overcomers, as if to say, "Let these points be strong in your vision, before I tell you of the plagues."  These will be the "last plagues," as with them God's wrath, His indignation against all unrighteousness, is finished, reaches its climax, and is ended.

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire." This was first mentioned in Revelation 4:6, "And before the throne was a sea of glass like unto crystal." But now there is an added qualification. "mingled with fire." Truly the overcomer can stand thereon, because the cleansing of His consuming fire has done its work within.  There is no negative reaction to the fire.  There is no fear of exposure, or scrutiny.  While it is written, "There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.  (Matthew 10:26), yet these can be transparent before all and stand unashamed.  When everything within us is pure, as He is pure, let the unveilings take place-- we can stand upon the sea of glass, and rejoice that we have been made partakers of His righteousness.

"And I saw... them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb."

"The song of Moses," was a song of deliverance, exalting the power of God, magnifying the One who brought them through in victory.  "Then sang Moses... this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously... The Lord is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation: He is my God... Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods?  Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders..."  (Exodus 15:1-2, 11).

"And the song of the Lamb." Now the song expands to another dimension, for the Lamb is the REDEEMER of all men and He sings of the totality of salvation for all mankind. "All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify Thy name.  For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone."  (Psalm 86:9-10).

"And all flesh shall come to worship before me, saith the Lord."  (Isaiah 66:23).

"For He will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship Him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen"  (Zephaniah 2:11).

"Saying, Great marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.  Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy: For all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest."

Yes, the firstfruits sing of victory over the beast, his mark, his image, his number.  They exalt the One who has brought them into this deliverance.  But then they go on to prophetically sing of the ultimate, that "ALL NATIONS  shall come and worship before Thee."  It is not just our deliverance-- it is what He has purposed for ALL men everywhere, including the far off isles of the sea.

With this VICTORY clearly in focus, let the outworking of it begin! "I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." Out of this purified, qualified, holy temple of His dwelling, proceeds the ministry.  The messengers are "clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles."  Such oneness with the holiness and divine nature of God, their ministry is totally righteous, executing the will of God to perfection.

"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 angles were fulfilled."

"If you walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. - I will walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins."  (Leviticus 26:21,24).

The certainty of justice and correction is sure-- not as a negative whipping as payment for sin, but as a chastening to teach, a discipline to learn-- "For when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."  (Isaiah 26:9).  The process is not an end in itself, but the means to an end-- through all the judgments a vital correction is made, bringing forth a "godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation." (2 Corinthians 7:10).  His judgments do not save us, but they condition and prepare us to receive HIM who is our Salvation.  They cause us to turn to the Lord in repentance, and we find He has been drawing us to Himself through it all.

So great is His glory and power that fills the temple, that no man can enter until their sevenfold cleansing is complete.  This was prefigured in the early church, "And of the rest durst no man join himself to them..."  (Acts 5t:13).  When GOD'S HOLINESS fills the temple, no man will be able to enter and retain his filthy garments. "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness."  (Matthew 22:12-13).  The standard is not lowered to accommodate the world.  The purgings will intensify until all are clean, clothed with His righteousness, and ready to be received by Christ.

"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth." (Revelation 16:1).  Then follows the plagues of purification.  They correspond to that which we saw in the ministry of the seven trumpets, and are also prefigured in the plagues that came upon Egypt.

While the processings might be severe, yet "I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus." - "And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."  (Revelation 16:5,7).

Truly we can bear witness, "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He."  (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Moffatt's translation reads: "Steadfast - He rules aright, HIS METHODS ARE IN ORDER DUE, a God trusty and wholly true, upright and honest." While Ferrar Fenton adds the thought, "ALL HIS LINES ARE STRAIGHT."

What a declaration!  His work is perfect, all His lines are straight, His methods are in due order, all that He does is RIGHT! Therefore it rightly follows, "All His ways are judgment."  Everything He does is to bring about a restoration and setting right that which has been perverted, distorted, defiled, etc. HE IS OUR GOD OF SALVATION! Were He to draw a line in your life, it would be a straight line-- and that means you would be brought into alignment with that uprightness. "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a Father to Israel."  (Jeremiah 31:9).  All of His methods, His workings, are in proper order, proper time, perfect sequence, as He steadily draws you to Himself.

So long has Christendom programmed their doctrines with a negative view, that to read of the pouring out of the plagues brings a shudder, a fear, for all they see is calamity and distress, while actually God has promised the opposite.  Full well He knows the propensity of humanity to do evil.  He knows of the self-will and rebellion, that we have "turned every one to his own way." But He also has promised, "I will bring the blind by a way that thy knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not know: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.  These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."  (Isaiah 42:16).

So ingrained is the self-will and rebellion of man, that the first strokes of judgment only harden them in their waywardness. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory." Yet even in their cursing they are forced to acknowledge that the Almighty God was in control, He had "power over the plagues." They blaspheme God in a reaction to their pain and distress.  But while the wrath of God is love's severity, yet it remains purest love, seeking the ultimate good for creation, and so it continues to apply the strokes of chastisement.  Repentance will come, but how great is the need for the inworking of His judgments, until that submission comes.

"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

There are two very contrasting realms, and God uses them both in His processings.  "Scorched with great heat."  and the pain of "darkness." The pain of fiery trials we know, when God turns on the heat and we "melt before Him." But now let us briefly consider the pain of darkness-- and the dark night of the soul.

In the parable of Jesus, when it came time to deal with the stress-rebellion of the servant, the command was given, "Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 25:30).

Outer darkness-- which, according to the scientists, is a state of absolute zero, 273 degrees minus Fahrenheit.  There is no heat, no light, no energy, all has been removed or drawn off.  Thus "darkness," becomes a synonymous term for "cold," the opposite of heat.

When one steps into a very cold room, at first you have your own body warmth which surrounds you, so that it isn't so noticeable as to how cold the room might be, but gradually, as your body heat is drawn off until you become more equalized with the temperature of the room, then you realize how cold that room really is.  What has happened is that to make an equalization, there is a drawing off of the thermo energy in you to make up some of the lack in the room.

All of the inner stress which has built up through our rebellious resistance to the will of God, can be drawn off by a plunge into darkness.  All our reserve resource of self-will, etc. is tapped, and we struggle to maintain our stand, while slowly we are worn down and become less adamant in our willful rebellion.  God knows exactly what DARK CORNER to place us in, with no outside energy which we can draw from to help maintain our rebellious resistance.  Yea, the darkness draws out of us, until our high force of thermo energy is lowered way down, and we don't feel as rebelious as we once did.

It is significant that where ever you find reference to outer darkness" you also read of "weeping and gnashing of teeth," as if to indicate the shivering in the cold until the teeth chatter.  But ever more our God is in control, for "The darkness and the light are both alike to thee."  (Psalm 139:12).

It may be that for a time "Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil."  (John 3:19).  They may feel they are getting away with their wrong-doing because no one sees them.  But when God leaves them in darkness long enough, they come to hate the darkness, for it draws out of them their last reserves of light, life, strength-- and they are brought to the end of themselves. "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God." (Jeremiah 2:19).

All things brings more meaning to the Word, "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness."  (Matthew 6:23).  We weep for them, yet we thank God for this understanding of how He uses the COLD, THE DARKNESS to draw out this thermo energy of self-resistance, and the hour of final victory will come, with a full restoration into God.

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial... And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

There is a "Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."  (Ephesians 2:2).  And the time comes when God does more than just clean up the body realm, and the mind realm, but there is a "war in our heavens," as He contends with the very spirit (or spirits) which motivate us.  The battle is not just "against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  (Ephesians 6:12).  We are to be CLEANSED "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."  (2 Corinthians 7:1).  thus, before this sevenfold purification process is finished, the spirit world is challenged and overcome.

Three unclean spirits emerge, from the dragon, the beast, the false prophet.  Touching upon the bestiality of man in all areas of body, soul, and spirit.  It reaches into all the expressions of society, religious, political, economical.  The frogs may croak (sound off) all night, but their influence will end with the Light of the New Day, when "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ."

We observe that these "spirits of devils" can be classified into three areas: unclean spirits, spirits of infirmity, and vexing spirits.

The influence of the UNCLEAN spirit is readily seen in all of the uncleanness of the flesh.  "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."  (Mark 7:21-22).

Paul also described the "uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts..."  (Romans 1:24), so that there were all forms of eroticism, homosexuality, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, deceit, malignity, implacable, unmerciful, and the list goes on.  This unclean spirit seems intensified in the end of this age, but there is a battle that will defeat and END all such uncleanness.  The purpose of the "last plagues" is to "thoroughly purge His floor... and He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  (Matthew 3:12).

Infirmity and vexing also spring out of the evil realm.  But when Christ came on the scene, "They that were vexed with unclean spirits, were healed." (Luke 6:18).  Tranquilizers don't deliver.  The battles within with the tormenting of negative thoughts, whisperers that rob you of your peace-- illustrate it as you will, ALL of this end when Christ reigns supreme within.

There was "a woman which had a spirit of infirmity, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.  And when Jesus saw here, he called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity."  (Luke 13:11-12).  Loosed from the same root word we get "redemption," i.e. a loosing away.  HE is the Redeemer, and though all creation be "bowed together" and cannot walk upright yet when His purifying plagues are finished, "ALL HIS LINES ARE STRAIGHT!" The loosing will be total and complete in every way-- He promised it so!

Jesus declared that "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,"  if that one is not filled with the Spirit of God, but remains empty and vulnerable, that the unclean spirit will "take with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. EVEN SO SHALL IT BE UNTO THIS WICKED GENERATION."  (Matthew 12:43, 45).  No wonder there is need for this sevenfold cleansing-- the intense pollution of uncleanness, of the bestiality of man requires it.

The masquerade was stripped away, and it was said to Nebuchadnezzar, "Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him,"  (Daniel 4:16).  All of the beast's mark was there, and it required a sevenfold (SEVEN TIMES)  judgment.  Was it successful?  Yes, indeed. "At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation. - I praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase."  (Daniel 4:34, 37). What a glorious victory!  Jumbled before the Almighty, he acknowledged the excellency of all "His ways judgment,"  They were right, correcting, re-aligning, bringing the whole into uprightness before God!  He could only bow low and worship.

Every man must face his hour of truth, and come to his appointed "Armageddon." Jacob "wrestled a man... until the breaking of the day."  (Genesis 32:24).  The warring between spirit and flesh, truth and error, love and hate, light and darkness, love for God and self-love, His will and our will-- it brings us to our personal Gethsemane.  All roads and crossroads eventually lead to the Cross, and there the war ends--  "It is finished."

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, IT IS DONE." (Revelation 16:17).

The ringing declaration that "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," (1 Corinthians 15:26), overthrows the whole structure of accepted, but unproven, theology that the forces of evil shall eternally exist in opposition to righteousness.  Evil is allowed for wise ends, and when these are secured it must cease to exist, for God will restore all things into good.  "The Lord hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."  (Proverbs 16:4).

"Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy."  (Isaiah 54:16).

The mystery of iniquity will work until that hour when the voice comes "out of the temple of heaven FROM THE THRONE, saying, It is done."  He hath decreed that "iniquity shall have an end,"  (Ezekiel 21:25).  And His judgments are a means to that end.

Seven is the number of completeness, perfection.  It is not a ceaseless, unending conflict-- God's purpose moves forward with divine order until it is consummated.  And now in the pouring out of the seventh vial, again we have the witness that the negative forces will come to their end.  In this seventh, and last plague, we have the sweeping climax-- "The cities of the nations fall; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."  (Revelation 16:19-20).  So great was the entrenchment of Babylon, John will have much more to say about her fall, but it is included in this seventh plague.

"And every island fled away..."  Islands symbolize that separate, individualized effort of man, to live his own life, do his own thing, a law unto himself.  But all self-centeredness will be dealt with by God.  "A branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine."  (John 15:4).  Long ago "He drove out the man" from the Garden, and man went his own way. "Cain went out from the presence of the Lord... and he builded a city." (Genesis 4:16).  He sought to exalt his own name, become an entity in himself.  But all the efforts of man have failed, and now this self-independence is ended, and the creature will find life and peace in God again.  Truly, there is "a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun, but only God, can satisfy.:  (Ecclesiastes 3:11), Amplified).  Now shall every man obey that command, inherent in his spirit, "Return, ye children of men."  (Psalm 90:3).  Our waywardness ended, we are "gathered together in one" in Christ, Ephesians 1:10), to find our all in Him!

"And the mountains were not found..." All the kingdom - building of man shall cease.  The empires which were a monument to the abilities of the flesh shall be brought low.  For the fulness of the victory of the seventh trumpet is now made manifest,  "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever."  (Revelation 11:15).

For a time men will blaspheme God "because of the plague of the hail," for it will be devastating in its working. "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place."  (Isaiah 28:17).  But when the work is finished, the whole of creation will be subdued before Him, joyfully to proclaim that He is righteous in all His ways, and HE IS LORD!

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, but unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."  (Revelation 5:13).  EVERY CREATURE, everywhere, shall cease their blaspheming, rebellion against God, and shall bow low in worship before Him, to praise and magnify the King of kings.