Revelation 14, 15, 16

Chapter 14 Read it out loud More vivid imagery and emotions

For example:Vs 14:20 “And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine

press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.

And yet there verse which are filled with hope and encouragement”.

Vs 14: 13“And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from

now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labours”

Literary Structure and the Context of this chapter 14: 6 – 15: 4

Vision of the redeemed 14:1-5

New song

Three Angels 14: 6-13

announcing

The Son of Man Reaping 14:14 Three Angels

announcing (reaping)

Vision of the redeemed 15:1-4

Song of Moses and of the Lamb

So visually we can see that John, begins and ends with, “brackets” as it were,

what would seem to be as potentially disturbing with that which is comforting and

encouraging.

And the mid-point becomes the emphasis which is ‘one like the son of man’

This section follows what we discussed in chapter 12 and 13

St Michael and All Angels passage chapter 12

Dragon, a woman and her son, The dragon comes to accuse

Two beasts:

Political Power and Religious Power It demonstrates that as long as we live in this world – we can expect power struggles

And the question arises to us – to whom shall we or will we follow faithfully and

obediently

We are always presented with choices –

Where shall we place our loyalty:Question of Discipleship

And so as we read chapter 14, following 12 and 13 we begin to see:

something else happening That as the battle is being fought, as the power struggles continue and the questions

arise to accuse and condemn us

in amidst this is the Gospel being Proclaimed – Announced And the imagery used – the seeds of the kingdom are being sown

Hence the reference to reaping and harvesting

Who in this chapter is doing the announcing and proclamation – Angels Angel is a messenger, a heavenly being, super natural

Or a human

And all the messengers – who proclaim and announce

The Message – Eternal Gospel Not just pointing towards future

But also pointing towards the eternal characteristics and will of God

The gospel – the good news is not an after-thought or reaction,

a fix up the problem

The goodness of a compassionate, caring God, who’s presence, is in the middle of

his people

Lampstands – not a distance God, watching from away – the kingdom of God is at

hand

The First Angel verse 7 “He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement

has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of

water.’”

Refers us to the Creator – us the created – all of creation

Fear God – be in awe, respect

Gospel is about turning towards God – turning – repenting

The invitation is in light of who God is, his eternal character – turn towards

Him and worship Him

To worship – is a response, an action, and verb – turn, loyalty and obedience

Interestingly to note: “The Hour has come” The hour has come refers to

Mark 1:15 the time is fulfilled

John 12: 23 & 24 Psalm Sunday The hour has come

John 12: 27, 31

The hour has come, there is good news, the kingdom of God is at hand, our Creator,

maker and sustainer is with us and has overcome, won the battle, as the forgiving

victim, the Lamb that was slain, so….

‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’

Westminster Abby Catechism

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever”.

The Second Angel Comes with the message verse 8“Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’”

Babylon does not literally represent the ancient city in the Old Testament, but in a

sense John uses it as code language – for humanity living in rebellion against God.

A nation or a city, we know here John will be thinking of Rome Where the people, and especially authorities, have rejected God as the king, and

leader,

And chosen to follow after their own needs and greed.

The result – it falls

To make all nations drink – Rome was about making one empire – therefore

influencing its citizens to worship Emperor

A question: how is this good newsGoodies win and baddies loose??

Perhaps in falling, in falling and failing in our own ways we seek another way?

Perhaps this is an invitation to turn – to turn towards another way

To God

And this is good news Because its grace And it’s not just to Babylon, to Rome, to 1st century New Testament people

It’s to us – it is God’s living word being proclaimed and announce to us today

The Third Angel verse 9 “Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who

worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their

hands, 10 they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup

of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the

holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb”.

This message follows on – make it personal

And it means we as individuals have to take the choices we make seriously

The crisis of choice

Encourages us to ask what does it mean to worship God

Who am I influencing

So in summary: While the dragon and his two beasts, (chapter 12 and 13) are busy deceiving and

accusing the world, to promote competition, greed, insecurity, fear, and pride

The angels, God’s messengers, are proclaiming and announcing Good News:

The hour has come.

Babylon has fallen.

Choose who you will worship.

And persevere, for you will experience persecution and rejection

The Two Harvests Here we address and focus on ‘the one like the Son of Man’

In which John places his emphasis on this chapter

In chapter 14, John sees him as coming to reap the harvest that is sown

From the seeds which are sown by the proclamation of his messengers

Two images Reaping grain 14:14-16

Reaping grapes 14:17-20

Old Testament Joel 3:13

Images are used for reaping – the gathering in of what one wants to keep

We have seen this phrase before

Outside the city This is where Jesus was crucified

Where the Lamb was slain

The forgiving victim

The minority and the outcasts were to be found

1 John 2:15 – 17

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the

world; for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—

comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but

those who do the will of God live for ever”.

A vision of the Redeemed People of God Choice

Worship

John begins with it and ends with it

Chapter 15 and 16 Interestingly there are two words here that John seems to use as the ending and

beginning brackets.

The first word is ‘wrath’ 15:1

16:19

The second word is ‘finished or it is done’ 15:1

16:17

Wrath is not human intense anger, an emotional flare up Or irrational passion described and attribute to the gods in ancient mythology

Wrath here could mean the essence of who God is, the fullness of God

Goodness, love, pure, perfect, complete, holy, gracious, forgiving

Is so strongly opposed to that which is not

Quote:“A strong and settled opposition ‘arising out of God’s very nature’”.

The opposition to what is evil.

Not truth.

Five observations

Observation ONEThe use of symbols to represent the reality around us and an invitation to see, and

look, at what is being unveiled

The imagery is to get our attention

“It goes beyond intellect, through the emotions, into the imagination, where the message in audio-visual form transforms us”.

Observation TWOThe setting of this passage or ‘scene’ and drama

5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent (tabernacle) of witness in heaven was opened,The temple is open

The tabernacle of testimony – Old Testament The stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were kept

Testimony is the witness of the living according to God’s law (moral code)

So begin to see what happens when we live against, outside of God’s Law, God’s

will, we end up violating ourselves, harming our relationships, and hurting our

environment/creation and community

The tabernacle of testimony was were people met God

The tent of meeting

God’s presence not only on but in Images in a pillar of cloud by day

And a pillar of fire by night

Here God’s essential character and nature was revealed and experienced

The Glory of God was revealed

Worship

These seven angels come out the temple are radiant

With seven bowls

Bowls demonstrate the reaction – strongly opposed to what is holy

Observation THREESet of seven

Seven seals chapters 6-8

Seven trumpets chapters 8-11

PerspectiveThings being shown from the world

Things being shown from the church, community of faith

And now…

Things being shown from the throne of God

Observation FOUR The series of sevens

Literary device called ‘recapitulation’ To begin and end

But the cycle starts again for progression

And here when we think we’ve reached the end, we continue to read

It leads us through to 19:11 – we come to the end when we see heaven opened up

And the openness brings no end

Observation FIVE Bowls and their content is to shock, create horror

As the plagues did

Pharaoh hardened his heart

What is our response?

Invitation to turn towards God – character of mercy – there is the come and follow me