Seven Plagues to Complete God’s Wrath
Today’s passage: Revelation 15
Focus verse: I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. (Revelation 15:1)
Revelation 15 seems out of order. In it seven plagues of God’s wrath are unleashed even though his harvest already took place in Revelation 14.
Yet for our purpose in applying John’s vision to us today, it doesn’t matter if the order of these events is chronological or not.
Regardless, we’re winding down God’s judgment and moving ever closer to the glorious new heaven and new earth where we’ll live with him for all of eternity.
In this chapter we meet seven angels. They may be the ones from Revelation 14, or they could be different. Regardless, they have seven plagues, the last of God’s afflictions.
These plagues will conclude God’s wrath on a rebellious people who have repeatedly dismissed the Almighty, despite many opportunities to repent.
This emerges as an exciting time for those who have resisted worshiping the beast and did not give in to his demands. They sing their praises to God, proclaiming him as marvelous and glorious. He, and he alone, is truly holy.
In the temple in heaven, the tabernacle opens, and seven angels appear, carrying with them the seven plagues. One of the four living creatures gives each angel a bowl of wrath.
This wrath—the final wrath that God will inflict on the earth—does not suggest he’s a mean deity, malevolently inflicting punishment on his creation. Instead, it’s an act of love.
How can pestilence and wrath be an act of love?
They’re God’s final effort to get as many of the remaining people on earth to repent, to make a U-turn from what they’re doing to follow him. This will prepare them to join him in eternity.
They’ve already had chances to turn to him throughout their life, with several more opportunities occurring in Revelation. These seven plagues are God’s last attempt to get their attention and draw them into his everlasting family.
God used plagues repeatedly in the Old Testament. The best known occur when he sent plagues to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let his people go (Exodus 7–12). The afflictions were to get Pharaoh’s attention.
When God sends plagues at other times, however, it’s to get his people’s attention. Though extreme, sometimes it’s the only thing that works.
John covers the effect of these final plagues—God’s bowls of wrath—in Revelation 16, but for now our focus is on the Lord God Almighty.
The temple fills with awe-inducing smoke that comes from God’s glory and power. Until the angels can unleash these seven plagues on the rest of humanity, no one can enter the temple.
Questions:
- What do we think about God making repeated efforts to get people to repent?
- When has God sent us a plague?
- What has God done to get our attention?
- When God takes extreme action, do we draw closer to him?
- When have we blamed God for our suffering?
[Discover more plagues in Leviticus 26:25, Numbers 11:33, Psalm 106:28–29, and Amos 4:10. Read more about God’s wrath in Numbers 16:46, Ezekiel 6:12, Luke 21:23, and John 3:36.]
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo Christianity and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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