6.3. The Climax of the Seventy for Israel (Revelation 15-16)

The Crusade for the Gospel began with God's decision at the Heavenly session (Revelation 5). So, when the last seven of the Seventy intended for Israel is about to start, God's decision for it must come at that point. God gave the Seventy to the people of Israel. They stopped its operation more than 2,000 years ago by killing the Messiah; and therefore, they must do something so that God might decide whether their Seventy should begin running again.

The last seven should begin with the Seventh Trumpet of the Heavenly Book, because the Apostle John sees "seven angels with the seven last plagues -- last, because with them God's wrath is completed." Then he sees the souls of dead people. "I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire." This sea of souls is different from the transparent and clean sea viewed at the opening the Heavenly Book (Revelation 4:6). The fire in this sea represents the souls' zeal for God in their fight against the evil. Some believed they would be saved without any zeal (fire) for confrontation. They are many, because many people died -- at least two-thirds during the first "woes."

They are going to be resurrected because the door for Resurrection is open. John sees the resurrected ones "standing beside the sea." This agrees with setting the last seven from Daniel into the Chronology. The angel holding them had his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land (Revelation 10:2). Therefore, the climate for the start of Daniel's last seven is the harvesting of the world, the separation of the just from the wicked, and the resurrected of the chosen ones. The saved and resurrected are present because they "had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name."

"They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb." They are believers in Moses, so they must be Jews. They are also believers in Jesus Christ. That is, Christians and Jews harvested in the first and second harvests will be resurrected and praising God at this time.

"After this I looked and in Heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues.".

Their song gets a response from God. Because Jews believe God's Throne was in the Temple or the Tabernacle, the Temple is opened. When the Temple starts to open again, this means God acts for Israel to be returned to Jerusalem and to its Temple. He has just started on the way there.

The Israelis are the people of God, because God chose their forefathers. If they are the people of God, then God should dwell among them. He already dwelt among them (the Glory of God entered the Temple or the Tabernacle), and then they sinned. He left them, and promised to return after seventy times seven. Sixty-nine sevens passed until the Crucifixion; and now it is time for the last seven to start. Could this represent the beginning of the final events? The Temple begins to open, and so the last events for Israel must start also. Yet the Temple does not belong to Christianity -- it is Judaism's.

"Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever." If you compare God's decision for the Lord's wrath (Chapter 8) with these words, you see that God now makes a second decision for the world to be punished. Now the punishment comes not through the Lamb (the Lord's wrath) but through Him who lives forever and ever (God's wrath). He decided this early, because he saw the Bride of His Son, who had been mistreated in her birthplace (Christians and unborn babies were killed, among other abuses).

Now God the Father sees the murdered Jews and the believers in Jesus, and the zeal for the Coming of the Messiah during the rule of the last beast, and therefore the judgment comes upon him and his world. So God's wrath is triggered because they tried to block the building of the Temple, and to abolish the Temple's services.

God's Wrath (Revelation 16:1-21)

The fact that God's wrath in included in Chapter 16 of Revelation leads many scholars to believe that the chronology of the Heavenly Book is still running at this point. So a question arises, why is God's wrath detailed not in the Chronology, but in the Climax of the Heavenly Book?

As I have already said, God the Father had already decided on the punishment of the world because of the Gospel, and it was carried out by the first "woe." This is how he closes the New Testament. Time still runs, and some "postponed" Christians still exist. However, history is no longer advancing because of them. God's actions now mostly involve bringing Old Testament affairs to a close (God's promises to the patriarchs of Israel, various prophecies, Daniel's Seventy and the like). Therefore, He has evaluated the relation of the world to His actions in Jerusalem.

God's wrath is more closely related to events that began twenty-five centuries ago (during the times of David and Solomon) than to events that began to run during the opening of the Heavenly Book (or from the birth of the Church). "You have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets." At any rate, God's wrath also has its place in the Chronology of the Heavenly Book (God the Father is its Author) and because the last Scroll ends with the words, "The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great -- and for destroying those who destroy the Earth. Then God's temple in Heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an Earthquake and a great hailstorm."(11:18-19)

As shown to John in Chapter 10, the seven angels pour God's wrath out during the sounding the Trumpet of the Seventh Angel, which is the last in the Heavenly Book. John sees a mighty angel robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He appears at the behest of God the Son, and so carries His authority. For the last Scroll, God the Son gave His authority to seven angels, and this is the last. God the Son took the Heavenly Book, and no one else can lord over the events written there, if he is not clothed in His authority.

The angel also spoke in God's authority: he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When He spoke, seven thunders spoke. God's judgment should have been derived from the seven thunders. At that time, John could not write about it, because that was not its actual time. The decision comes at the third "woe" (the Seventh Trumpet) and not at the second "woe" (the Sixth Trumpet), where Chapter 10 comes in.

    In any case, seven angels pour out God's wrath, as the last angel sounds the Trumpet.

  1. The first angel poured out his bowl upon the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
  2. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
  3. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
  4. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire.
  5. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
  6. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East -- to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
  7. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the Temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. Every island fled away, and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.


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