Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 23

23--Revelation Made Easy Part Six

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

We are getting close to the final stage of God's judgment on unbelieving Israel--on the generation that crucified Christ. Each set of 7 judgments has been increasing in intensity. The 7 letters warned the churches to endure to the end; the 7 seals were the declaration of coming judgment; the 7 trumpets signaled that destruction was immanent; and now the 7 bowls of God's wrath will be poured out on Jerusalem. It is too late now for repentance. For this next section, you will need to read Revelation 16-18. 

16:1 The voice from the temple is God or Christ. (15:8—no one was allowed to enter the sanctuary so the voice had to be God’s.)

The imagery:

Heaven’s temple sends judgments on the earthly temple. The angels are dressed like priests (15:6) and they pour out bowls like the ones used in tabernacle worship (Ex. 25:29). These bowls are poured out on the land.

These 7 judgment angels reflect the 7 judgment angels of Ezekiel 8:2 & 9:1-2. They too were destroying angels going into Jerusalem. 

The first bowl 16:2

1. Reflects Egyptian plague of boils in Ex. 9:8-12.
2. Reminds us of the covenant curse of God (Deut. 28:22, 27, 35)
3. Has a historical possibility as injuries from swords became infected and developed ulcers.

The second bowl 16:3

1. The sea becoming like blood reflects the water turned to blood in ancient Egypt, and also the second trumpet, only this time the whole sea turns to blood instead of only 1/3.
2. This signifies God’s curse. (His blessing is signified by turning water into wine.) 
3. It highlights historic events in the Jewish War. Josephus (JW 3.10.9 and 4.7.6) writes that the Romans leaped out of boats and killed so many that the sea turned red with blood. 

The third bowl 16:4-7

1. Shows the righteous nature of Revelation’s judge—“Holy One” and uses legal terms
2. The judgments are based on the lex talionis, the law of retaliation based on Ex. 21:23-25. (See Matt. 23:34 for the accusation.)
3. Rev. 16:6 leaves no doubt at all that the punishment is for Israel and her high priests. (See also Luke 11:49-50)

The fourth bowl 16:8-9

1. Historical reality: Josephus writes (JW 3.4.1) Galilee was filled with fire and blood... (JW 3.7.42) ...they were destitute for water and died from the heat... (JW 5.6.2) Titus set the suburbs on fire; (JW 6.4.5) ...the final siege was late summer and the heat killed many. 
2. This reminds us of Christ’s own threat in Luke 12:49—I have come to cast fire on the earth (land). 

The fifth bowl 16:10-11

1. The throne of the beast would be the temple. Darkness=the collapse of power. 

2. Typically the beast would represent the rule of Rome, but the way Rome governed was through the local authorities. In Israel Rome governed through the high priests. Israel was an Imperial Province which would have been directly under the control of the Emperor who appointed procurators—in this case the high priests were given this authority. The temple at this time functioned to subdue the people and maintain Roman rule. Josephus (JW 18.2.1) explains that Rome appointed the priests. The Jews were not allowed to do anything—like celebrating feasts—until the Romans showed up. In the priests own words: “”If we let him [Jesus] go on like this everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:48) 

3. The darkness reminds us of the darkness in Egypt during the plagues.

4. Josephus, in describing the priesthood spoke of corruption, avarice, and collaboration with Rome. 

The sixth bowl 16:12

1. The reference to the Euphrates means Israel is the focus. The Euphrates was the God-ordained boundary of the Promised Land. In the OT, drying water was a sign of God’s judgment. In Exodus 14 it was God’s judgment on Egypt when he dried the waters to let Israel escape while the Egyptians drowned. In this ironic reversal, the Euphrates now dries up to let Israel’s enemies come across. The Roman General Titus came into the land by crossing the Euphrates. 

2. The unclean spirits are similar in form to the frogs of the Egyptian plague. The function is speech that comes out of the mouths of the dragon, beast and false prophet to accuse Christians. They gather the kings of the Roman empire to war. 

3. The place is Har-Magedon—further evidence that Israel is the focus. Israel had suffered many losses in this place, and it came to be associated with great loss, the greatest of which was the death of King Josiah, the last of the godly kings of Judah. For them, that was like the end of the world and Armageddon became a metaphor for the last great battle at Jerusalem -- kind of like "9-1-1" is a metaphor for a terrorist attack in America. Zechariah 12:11 confirms this when he speaks of the way Jerusalem will mourn over “him whom they have pierced.” On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the morning for Hada-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 

The seventh bowl 16:17-21

1. Notice there is no interlude this time. No more stalling. No more delay. No more grace. 
2. The bowl is poured on the air. (This does NOT mean drones!!! LOL) Air is the source of lightning and thunder and hail. 
3. There is a declaration of accomplishment. "It is done!” The earthly temple is finally destroyed. 
4. The theophonic signs (lightning, thunder, and quake) that were present at Sinai when Israel was established are now present again as the Kingdom of Christ is established. Any Jew who knew his history would have  understood that Jesus has now been “revealed” as the reigning King whose kingdom is established. Josephus reports in (JW 6.5.1) that the priests felt the quaking and heard the noise. They knew! He reported that the violent noise was compounded by the echoing of the mountains as 100 pound boulders were catapulted over the wall landing everywhere--just like Revelation says. The boulders were white which made them look like giant hail. The battering rams shook the wall (JW 3.17.19) and and finally the ground gave way and the wall collapsed. (JW 6.1.3)  
5. Inside the city was split in three factions warring against each other. Both Josephus and Tacitus report that the civil war engaged three factions. 
6. Notice also that stoning was the OT punishment for adultery. 
7. Titus, the conquering general, gave credit for his victory to God, saying that at one point he realized the city was invincible but their own God came to his aid. 

The Great Harlot  Chapter 17

Chapters 15-16 bring an end to the judgment of Israel. It is done! Chapter 17 now zooms in to look specifically at the harlot herself. It is a review of the 6th and 7th bowls from the perspective of the Old Testament prophets as their prophecies come to final conclusion. It should be read in the context of:

Exodus 28:6-39

Deuteronomy 28:15-68

Isaiah 1:21; 57:3

Jeremiah 3:3; 7:4, 8-15, 30-34; 11:14-15; 14:11-12; 16:1-13; 19:4-15

Lamentations 4:13

Ezekiel 16

Hosea 4; 9:15-17

These passages will give us the contextual evidence for identifying the harlot. We also get contextual New Testament evidence from the following passages:

Matt. 12:38-39; 16:4; 21:32 & 43; 23:29-24:35

Mark 8:38-9:1

Luke 11:49-50; 13:33-35; 19:41-44; 21:5-9, 20-28

The climax of the book of Revelation is the destruction of the harlot. And we know from the beginning of the book that “these things must soon take place.” Jesus told us her destruction would come to “this generation.” It is important that we identify the harlot. The majority view is that Babylon is Rome. But if Babylon is Rome, then who is the beast? Fortunately, we are given many Scriptural clues as to the identity of the harlot Babylon. Here are the clues:

1. The harlot is dressed up like a high priest, wearing the clothes, the colors, the jewels, and holding the golden cup! We no longer see these priests today, so their garb is unfamiliar to us, but any Jew reading this description would have immediately recognized that the harlot was dressed like a high priest. (Today we would react the same way if the harlot was described as wearing a black habit with a crucifix around her neck and carrying a rosary!) 
2. She has “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations”  inscribed on her forehead just as the Jewish high priest wore a plate on his forehead that said, “Holy to the Lord.”
3. The harlot’s character is contrasted point for point with the character of the bride. (Compare Rev. ch. 17 & ch. 21).
4. She is drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus.
5. The beast is easily identified as Rome with the 7 hills (Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Quirinal, Capitoline, Palatine, and Viminal) and 7 Emperors. Vs. 10 tells us that 5 (Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius) have fallen; one is (Nero); and the next will remain only a little while (Galba). Therefore the harlot can NOT be Rome. 
6. The harlot is sitting on the beast—directing the beast—to do her bidding. (To Pilate she said, “Crucify him!”; she followed the apostles all over the empire stirring up persecution by having Roman rulers imprison and give the death sentence to followers of Christ.) 
7. The beast and the ten kings (appointed by Rome) turn on the harlot and do three things:

a. vs. 16 They strip her naked (Just as covering a woman with a garment signified a commitment to marriage, stripping a woman in public signified divorce. (See Ruth 3:9 and Ez. 16:8)) This reinforces that this is a divorce court drama! 

b. They devour her flesh (Josephus reports the horrific instances of cannibalism)

c. They burn her up with fire (Jerusalem and all of its suburbs were burned)

Finally, the harlot is revealed in vs. 18 to be “the great city” which has already been previously identified for us in chapter 11:8 as the city where our Lord was crucified—Jerusalem. Therefore there is a preponderance of evidence for Babylon as a metaphor for Jerusalem and the harlot as the high priestly aristocracy. Rome is the beast upon which the harlot sits. 

The beast and the ten kings do these things : “for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.” 

The ten kings are the ones who rule over their assigned localities with little interference from Rome. However, on this occasion they all agree to help Rome defeat Jerusalem once and for all. 

The many waters signify the Jewish Diaspora, which is a fancy name for the dispersion of the Jews throughout the Roman Empire. Ethnic Jews had spread throughout the Roman Empire and both Philo and Josephus testify that there was no place in the Empire where the Jews were not. They also proselytized many Greeks into Judaism. (JW 7.3.3) Both John and Acts mention this dispersion. In fact, at Pentecost Jews from every tribe and nation and language were present to hear Peter’s sermon. 

Sitting on the waters— sitting is a posture of rule. The fact that the woman was “seated on many waters” shows the great influence that the Jews had in the Empire. 

kings of the earth — would be better translated “rulers of the land” as it refers to the Jewish priesthood and “land” means Israel. Jesus many times used the same word that we see translated as “earth” when he was very obviously referring to Israel (Matt. 23:35, 24:30; Luke 18:8, 21:35.) The Greek can mean either and it would be best to substitute “land” when we know the meaning is Israel. Also the Greek word for king also means any ruler. 

The ten kings — are secondary authorities aligned with Rome. They are part of the beast (ten horns) and are subordinate to the beast given temporary authority. Provincial governors. They war against the Lamb and are defeated by the Lamb, but not before doing the Lamb’s bidding by destroying the harlot. Josephus JW 6.3.5 says the Romans hated the Jews with more bitter hatred than normal. 

The Lament over Babylon  Chapter 18

The mighty angel is Christ. We have already seen a similar description of him in 10:1. In Revelation, glory is invariably associated with God or Christ. His great authority is related to 17:14 where he is declared to be Lord of Lord and King of Kings. 

Relationship between Babylonian harlot and demons — Jesus had called the unbelieving Jews a “synagogue of Satan” (3:9) and he had told the Pharisees that their father was the devil (John 8:44). In Rev. 9 we saw demons flooding the land. The High Priestly aristocracy is associated with the dragon in Rev. 12. The false prophet represents Israel’s high priest. 

The harlot and drunkenness — The source of her drunkenness is persecution (the blood of the saints). The spread of her sin includes intoxicating the nations. (Acts 26:11) The Jews turned Gentiles against Christians (Acts 17:5). Jesus himself warned of this (Matt. 10:17-18). 

The kings (rulers) and merchants of the land — The Jerusalem temple was an economic entity through which flowed enormous amounts of wealth which enriched the high priestly aristocracy. They themselves had huge mansions. The merchants were the middlemen who also prospered greatly. 

The call to depart the city — This was a call for Christians to leave the city and flee to the mountains. Jesus had warned about this happening in his Olivet Discourse, so they were anticipating this. Eusebius wrote in his Ecclesiastical Histories 3.5.3 that Christians were instructed to remove to Pella, a town in the province of Perea. Note again the reverse Exodus theme: where once God rescued his people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, He is now rescuing them from the Promised Land. 

The lament of the kings (rulers) — John 11:48 tells us that the priests were concerned about losing their status fearing that Rome would take away their place. Josephus reports that Annanas, the high priest wished to die to before he saw the abomination of the temple. (JW 4.3.9) 

Jerusalem’s citizens lament her destruction — JW 5.1.5 tells us there was incessant lamentation, weeping and wailing as the temple went up in flames. Vespasian even minted a coin to memorialize Israel’s weeping. It shows a Jewess sitting under a tree weeping with the insignia “Judea Captured”. 

The merchants and shipmasters — lost great wealth because everything was destroyed. 

The autopsy of the harlot — “in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all who have been slain on the earth (land!). 

For the enemies of Christ, there is no saving grace. But for those of us who are saved, his grace is beyond imagining. 

Today is Christmas Day 2016 and as always we remember those we love, and while we cannot be with our children and grandchildren today, we savor the memories of Christmases  past and look ahead to the Ultimate Christmas--that Christmas on Steroids as my grandkids would say--when Christ returns again to wipe away all tears and put an end to Good-Byes forever! Here are some pics from Christmas 2012: