Ch.15-16: The wrath of God
This is very it’s finally getting serious.
Our text
We are moving quickly forward and reached chapter 15 and 16.
The big question
The question is, how long is God going to wait? When will the point of harvest be reached? Looking back at the fifth seal, God waits until all the nations are gathered. On the one hand, we want this to happen quickly and for Jesus to return soon to end the unrighteousness and suffering in this world. On the other hand, there may be people who have not yet heard the gospel.
Therefore, the church must give its testimony based on its worship of God in endurance, and God is squeezing as much as possible in the meantime until no more squeezing is possible.
You may have noticed that the trumpets and the bowls have many similarities because they are both based on the plagues in Egypt. God and the Church are working together to save as many as possible: Our prayer moves God, and God’s heart moves our prayer.
The bowls
Bowls of wrath sounds like God throwing a tantrum and punishing everyone who does not accept Him. But this is wrong: Wrath is actually an expression of God’s passion to finish His work.
And this is what the bowls are about
- The first bowl creates trouble for the people who give their allegiance to Satan and picks up the theme of the first four trumpets (catastrophes on the securities of men).
- The second AND third bowls (this seems to be an important issue) confront the people who have attacked the witnessing Church.
- The fourth AND fifth bowls challenge the stubbornness of people’s hearts and the unreachability of the church’s testimony — after this there are only people left who are stiff in their decision after the trouble and the testimony.
- So during the sixth bowl, God gives these people according to their deception and they gather at Armageddon. Armageddon is not a place of battle, but the place of the defeat of the strong against the obviously weak. It is the place of judgment for the devil.
- And in the seventh bowl, Satan’s kingdom is finally destroyed.
Reflection
- How long can God wait? Do you think God has given up on you?
- What have been your issues where you have followed the beast, rejected God’s leading, or hardened your heart?
- What are your hopes for how specific situations in this world might change for the better? Do you believe these are God’s ways?
- Do a study on Armageddon below. What could that be today?