Revelation: The Enduring Kingdom - The Last Great Exodus - Revelation 15-16

A New Song (15:1-4)

This scene reminds us of the Exodus, when God led his people out of slavery and into the Promised Land. As they stood on the banks of the Red Sea, they saw the enemies of God destroyed. They were vindicated and they sang songs of praise. This is a new song, one that only the redeemed can sing.

This is why we sing. Not only do we have a future victory over this world, but we have it daily as we live out the Gospel.

The Glory Of God (15:5-8)

We see another Exodus theme in the tabernacle of witness. This is the place where God’s presence was made manifest with his people. From this holy place, the angels are given the bowls full of God’s wrath.

This is the beginning of the end. The bowl judgments of chapter 16 are the more detailed version of the sixth seal and the seventh trumpet. This is where the wrath of God is fully poured out on the earth.

The Wrath of God Poured Out (15:5-8)

We can get angry when we think of God’s wrath. If God is love, how can there be this judgment? We need to be careful here; we don’t want to craft a god in our own minds. This is what they did in the Exodus. Justice and righteousness are always a good thing.

There will come a time when God’s wrath is poured out. It is coming like a thief in the night.

The Wrath of God Poured Out (16:1-21)

The bowl judgments mirror the plagues from Exodus. There, God sent plagues to get the attention of his enemies. They refused to bow to him.

God allows suffering to happen today to accomplish the same thing. To point us to the day when God will fully pour out his wrath on this world. This is a kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

The Cup Of Wrath (16:1-21)

All of us deserve to drink the cup of God’s wrath. On the cross, God’s love and justice intersect. There, Jesus took the cup that we should drink and drank it himself. The wrath of God that was being stored up for believers was poured out on the Son.

Through Christ, our Redeemer, we don’t have to face that wrath. Instead, we can sing the song of the Redeemed.