Tour of Revelation Pt. 15

In the video game, Alan Wake: The American Nightmare, Alan wakes up to the same story for three days in a row. He realizes he is living out the same script from his book, but an evil force is manipulating it. Each day, he must face the same cycle of scenes while recovering the story from corruption. He must end the evil once and for all.

After many chapters where evil has the authority to conquer God’s children, chapters 15 and 16 are God’s final response to the world’s evil. Chapter 15 prepares us for the final reckoning, where God’s power and glory are likened to smoke covering the temple. Smoke was used in the Old Testament to mask God’s overpowering presence or as a guide to lead Israel out of the desert. These symbols also represent the Passover, when God’s wrath struck the Egyptians but spared his chosen people.

Chapter 16 has the final plagues avenging the church through seven bowls. These symbols also represent the Passover, when God’s wrath struck the Egyptians but spared his chosen people. The story of Passover comes full circle: Egypt received the plagues to save Israel, then Jesus received the full curse of sin at Passover to save the world, and finally the world received the plagues to save the church. When the seventh angel releases the last bowl, a loud voice echoes what Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished!”

This pattern reflects how God works throughout history. Sin brings tragedy, and God acts to rescue those he wants to save. Sin never comes without a cost: either God or the world bears its consequences. Jesus paid sin’s debt to reconcile the world to God; in this vision, the world faces judgment as God’s people are persecuted.

FIGURE IT OUT:

8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Revelation 15:8

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

Revelation 16:1

17 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!”

Revelation 16:17

  1. Which part of this passage surprised you the most? What part of this passage feels like good news? What part confuses you?
  2. Why does our sin have such a high cost that God must pay or we must pay?
  3. How does God’s salvation power give you hope for the future? How should we help others understand the cost of sin?
  4. What does it say about God that is moved to save someone with such extravagant power?