Connect Revelation 15:7 with Old Testament depictions of God's judgment and righteousness. Revelation 15:7 — Judgment Delivered “One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.” Echoes of Old Testament Wrath: Bowls and Cups • Isaiah 51:17 — “You have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath.” • Jeremiah 25:15-16 — “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath…and make all the nations drink it.” • Ezekiel 23:33 — “You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, a cup of horror and desolation.” • These bowls in Revelation intensify the earlier “cup” imagery: what was once offered in measured sips is now poured out to the dregs. The Eternal God in Both Testaments • Revelation 15:7 calls Him the One “who lives forever and ever.” • Deuteronomy 32:40 — “As surely as I live forever.” • Psalm 90:2 — “From everlasting to everlasting You are God.” • Because He is eternal, His judgments are never impulsive or temporary; they flow from an unchanging, holy nature. Righteousness and Judgment Walk Together • Psalm 89:14 — “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.” • Psalm 11:7 — “For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice.” • In Revelation 15 the heavenly hymn (vv. 3-4) celebrates God’s “righteous acts”; the bowls demonstrate those acts in real time. • Judgment is not a lapse in love but the necessary expression of perfect righteousness. From Exodus Plagues to Final Bowls Seven bowls echo the ten plagues: 1. Sores (Revelation 16:2) ⇾ boils (Exodus 9:9-11) 2. Sea to blood (Revelation 16:3) ⇾ Nile to blood (Exodus 7:17-21) 3. Rivers to blood (Revelation 16:4) ⇾ same plague, expanded 4. Scorching sun (Revelation 16:8-9) ⇾ hail/fire mingled (Exodus 9:23-24) 5. Darkness (Revelation 16:10-11) ⇾ darkness over Egypt (Exodus 10:21-23) 6. Euphrates dried (Revelation 16:12) ⇾ Red Sea parted/dried (Exodus 14:21-22) 7. Worldwide earthquake & hail (Revelation 16:17-21) ⇾ Sinai quaking, hail (Exodus 19:18; 9:24) The same God who judged Egypt to rescue Israel now judges a rebellious world to vindicate His saints. Cherubim, Throne Room, and Holiness • The “four living creatures” mirror the cherubim of Ezekiel 1 & 10, guardians of divine holiness. • Their direct participation (handing over the bowls) underscores that judgment issues from the very throne of God, not a secondary source. Temple Vessels Turned to Vessels of Wrath • Exodus 25:29; 1 Kings 7:50 describe golden bowls used for worship. • In Revelation those bowls still serve God’s purposes—but now carry wrath instead of incense, proving that every sacred object ultimately serves His holiness, whether in mercy or in judgment. Takeaway The final outpouring of wrath in Revelation 15:7 gathers every Old Testament strand—cup, plague, cherubim, covenant justice—into one climactic revelation of the God whose eternal righteousness demands that evil be answered fully and finally. |
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