TOPIC:“The Seven Last Plagues”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Revelation 15:1-8
“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels
having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God” (15:1)
Before the final outpouring of God's wrath upon the wicked as described in the bowl judgments of chapter 16, these bowl judgments being released near the end of the Tribulation period, John is once again given a preliminary vision of things in Heaven. This is the sixth time that he has been privileged to behold heavenly things. In this heavenly scene a prelude is presented to John of what is about to take place in chapter 16 which describes events on earth. Let us examine very carefully this additional important sign given to John before the great day of God's wrath comes in all of it's severity.
I.
Think first of this: the SERVICE of the Angels. The Apostle John writes: “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God…And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever” (15:1, 6, 7).
John now beholds a third sign in Heaven, the first two signs being a woman clothed with the sun (12:1) and the great red dragon (12:3). Here another sign is presented to John described as being “great and marvelous” or as Weymouth has it, “great and wonderful.” The seven angels seen in the vision given to John are not identified, but some have suggested that they are the seven messengers in Revelation 2 and 3. This I doubt very much. They seem to be seven selected angels chosen by God for a special task.
The seven angels are described as having “the seven last plagues” or literally “the seven plagues the last ones.” These seven last plagues are the seven bowls in chapter 16. These are seven separate judgments which follow after the seventh trumpet judgment. They are much more severe in intensity than those of the seal and trumpet judgments, and they bring to a conclusion the divine judgment of God on a wicked world. It is significant as it was with the seals, continuing with the trumpets, there are seven bowls - the number seven indicating the completion of God's final judgments. These weapons of destruction are to be poured out at the end of the great Tribulation, just preceding the Lord's return in glory. . . .