Revelation 15:1, commentary and pictures

Another sign appears in heaven, great and marvellous, in which seven angels are given the seven last plagues that complete and finish the wrath of God. They are poured out only after Jesus ends His interceding work in the most holy place and steps out from between the Father and men, laying aside priestly garments for garments of vengeance, so that mercy no longer shields the guilty. When they fall without mixture they bring the full measure of divine anger in literal, dreadful judgments of pain and death upon the living wicked, especially upon those who worship the beast and his image, receive his mark, and trample God's holy Sabbath while enforcing a rival sabbath. The plagues come just before deliverance, as with Egypt, enraging the wicked against the righteous until the saints cry for help and are delivered by the voice of God, after which the earth is left desolate with the wicked slain. Escape is still offered now through the sealing shelter drawn over God's commandment-keeping people, calling for close study, repentance, surrender of heart, and patient endurance, for once the plagues begin there is no shelter and no further cleansing from sin.

Sign Words and Setting

Another sign appears in heaven, great and marvelous, in which seven angels hold the seven last plagues, because in them the wrath of God is filled up, completed and finished. These plagues are still future, to be poured out before the first resurrection, before the changing of the saints, and before the second coming of Christ. They belong to the first, second, and third angels' messages to be proclaimed and explained, summoning the church to action, to diligent study of the Scriptures, to awakeness to its responsibilities, to bring the holy influence of truth and righteousness into the work and to carry it forward with zeal and determination. They are a danger the faithful on earth are urged to escape by preparing for the day of the Lord and giving themselves wholly to God, with the call to endure suffering for Christ set against the prospect of sharing His glory. Dying beforehand was regarded as an escape from witnessing them.

The sign stands directly before those who gain the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name. They stand on a sea of glass mingled with fire, having the harps of God, and the sign is connected with that victory represented by the harps. There they sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, declaring great and marvelous are the works of the Lord God Almighty, and just and true are His ways as King of saints. They declare Him alone holy, and that His judgments are made manifest, so that all nations shall come and fear and worship before Him.

The chapter follows Revelation 14:13-20 and is to be read and meditated upon together with the blessing on those who die in the Lord and with the vision of the Son of man reaping the ripe harvest of the earth. It comes when the time to reap has come because the harvest of the earth is ripe, and when each day's decisions have decided what shall be written in the books of heaven.

Timing After Intercession Ends

The seven last plagues are still future, to be poured out before the first resurrection, before the changing of the saints, and before Christ's second coming. They come only after a final separation, when God has honest children among nominal Adventists and the fallen churches who will yet be called out, both ministers and people, to gladly embrace the truth, leave the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant. Satan knows that call is coming and before the loud cry of the third angel raises a false excitement in those religious bodies so that those who rejected the truth will think God is with them, hoping to deceive the honest into thinking God is still working for the churches, but the light will shine and every honest one will come out.

They are poured out only after Jesus finishes His interceding work for Israel in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, when every person's case is decided for salvation or destruction. He then lays aside His priestly garments, takes up the garments of vengeance with kingly robes and crown, stands up, steps out from between the Father and men, and God no longer keeps silence. This belongs to a future day of wrath when Christ's priestly work of intercession has ended and He acts in judgment to repay His adversaries, not to the wrath poured out at the crucifixion nor to the time of His ongoing priestly ministry. The wrath cannot come while He remains clothed in priestly garments between the Father and man, shown by the bell and pomegranate on the bottom of His garment, and He will not leave until every case is decided either for salvation or destruction. Until that sanctuary work is done the four angels hold the four winds, then let them go and the plagues fall on those who have rejected His truth.

The plagues are poured out in a distinct period after the work of salvation closes, not at the commencement of the time of trouble. That commencement is a short period just before the plagues while Christ is still ministering in the heavenly sanctuary and the work of salvation is closing, when trouble is coming on the earth and the nations become angry but are restrained so they cannot stop the third angel's work. In that time the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, comes to give power to the loud voice of the third angel's proclamation and to prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out. The anger of the nations now getting angry, the wrath of God in the plagues, and the time to judge the dead are three separate and distinct events one following the other. So Michael has not yet stood up and the time of trouble such as never was has not yet commenced, for the nations are now getting angry but the plagues come only after the High Priest has finished His work in the sanctuary.

They are soon to be poured out when the angel of mercy leaves the world. Sin, shame, sorrow, and darkness are on every side as that time nears, the storm is gathering and the bolts of wrath are soon to fall.

Nature of Wrath Poured

The seven last plagues hold the full measure and completion of God's wrath against the living wicked. They are the burning wrath of God in the day of slaughter, the final outpouring in the day of God's and the Lamb's wrath. In them that wrath is filled up, bringing destruction or death upon the wicked, with pain so severe that people gnaw their tongues and curse God.

A few drops of that wrath have already fallen, but when the plagues are poured out without mixture the time to repent and find shelter is over forever. Then no atoning blood will cleanse sin. The anger in them is dreadful and terrible, able to blot inhabitants from existence or destroy them with incurable sores and withering plagues from which there is no deliverance. The wicked are left destroyed with their dead bodies lying upon the earth's surface from one end to the other.

They are literal judgments that some living people will be subjects of just before Jesus comes. Not all the living will suffer them, for some will die beforehand as food for worms, some will endure the plagues, and some will remain alive upon the earth to be translated at His coming. Dying beforehand was regarded as an escape from witnessing them.

Those Struck and Why

The seven last plagues fall on all the ungodly who have no shelter, upon those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in foreheads or hands. They come upon all who unite with the power that has made void God's law, for the point at issue is the observance of the Sabbath. Two parties stand opposed: one small but loyal and true company bears the Sabbath sign of loyalty to God, while the opposing party breaks God's commandments, enforces the Sunday sabbath, compels conformity to the Sunday law, receives the mark of the beast through union with opposers of the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and all who have that mark perish with the man of sin. Those who heed the warning escape and are known as God's people who patiently keep God's commandments and have the faith of Jesus.

They fall on those who continue to break the holy Sabbath and hold His law in derision. They come when unrighteousness swells to a fearful pass, when men exceed the bounds God prescribed and outrun the limits of His grace, when the holy law is made void and trampled under foot and human laws are made supreme, when hostility to heaven and rebellion reach an aggravating pass. For centuries divine compassion and wonderful forbearance have held back wrath while Omnipotence keeps a reckoning of the sum of guiltiness of every nation, but when the harvest of the world is ripened God will not long delay and will vindicate His honor and punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. While the plagues are falling the mouths of Sabbath-breakers are closed so they cannot plead the excuses they now make to get rid of the Sabbath. As the great Lawgiver requires justice they feel the iron grasp of the law taking hold of them, their words calling it a curse to man, miserable and rickety stand before them in living characters, and they realize the sin of deriding the law which the word of God calls holy and just and good.

They fall on slave-masters in punishment for keeping slaves in ignorance and degradation, with the sins of the slave visited upon the master. The master must suffer the seven last plagues and then rise in the second resurrection and suffer the second, most awful death, and then the wrath of God is filled up and appeased and His justice satisfied. False shepherds are singled out as signal objects of that wrath. Their eyes are consumed away in their holes and their tongues in their mouths while they stand upon their feet, amid pain so severe that people gnaw their tongues.

To be a subject of the plagues is the end of those whose minds are engrossed by earth and its treasures, who have no time to prepare for heaven, who let Satan plunge them deeper into unholy desire for earthly things, who grasp at shadows until too late, gain nothing substantial, and lose eternal life without excuse. They fall on the company who insist on having their own way, whose thoughts and ways are not God's thoughts and ways, with whom God makes no compromise, the opposite being surrendering the heart to God, receiving a new heart and having a new song with melody in the heart. They cut down those who form corrupt characters under a father's bad influence and shameful example, and mere profession as Sabbathkeepers while living an open disgrace known to neighbors does not save from this wrath but marks its victims, with the father bearing the fearful burden and guilt for bringing them to that destruction. Children left without religious training and left to grow up in sin and wickedness will be destroyed by them, so parents who fail to feel burdened, agonize and pray for their children's salvation bring children into the world to be destroyed by the seven last plagues.

The plagues are poured out after the world has been taken in Satan's snare through spiritual manifestations and lying wonders, through making the Bible seem uninspired, putting Jesus in the background as no more than a common man, and denying anything miraculous about His birth, death and resurrection, thereby tearing away the foundation of Christian hope and lulling the world into security. The deceived repeat the false report and exalt their own miracles above the works of Christ, and they do not find out the awful deception until the seven last plagues are poured out, while Satan laughs to see his plan succeed and the whole world stays in the snare right up to that pouring out. Under these plagues the last oppressive power that treads down the true church, the power of Revelation 13:11-18 whose number is 666, makes its last struggle about the time it comes to its end with great power, deception, wonders, miracles and oppression. As the magicians of Egypt counterfeited the miracles of Moses just before the deliverance of Israel, so great a manifestation of the power of the devil comes just before the glorious deliverance of the saints.

Prophetic Place and Aftermath

The seven last plagues belong to the first, second, and third angels' messages to be proclaimed and explained, and to the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 that are being fulfilled now while the last message of warning must be heard by all. They stand in the unfolding sequence that leads to the very last call to the churches in Revelation 18, which is now to be given, and then to the taking of the beast and false prophet to be cast into the lake of fire, the binding of the dragon for a thousand years, the resurrection of the wicked and their final destruction with Satan, and the final triumph and reign of Christ on this earth. Over this the church is summoned to action, called to diligent study of the Scriptures and to awake to the responsibilities resting upon it, bringing the holy influence of truth and righteousness into the work and carrying it forward with zeal and determination.

The plagues on Egypt, which came just before and at Israel's release from bondage, foreshadow both these final plagues and the deliverance of the saints. When poured out they enrage the wicked against the righteous, who are blamed for bringing the judgments and face a decree to slay them. This is the time of Jacob's trouble, when the saints cry day and night for deliverance until they are delivered by the voice of God, and the 144,000 triumph with faces lighted by glory.

After the saints are delivered by God's voice the wicked turn their rage upon one another until the earth is deluged with blood and left as a desolate wilderness of ruined cities and villages, mountains moved from their places, rocks scattered and trees uprooted, covered with dead bodies lying upon its surface from one end to the other. This becomes the confined home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Though the saints are then mighty when God speaks, they do not carry out the judgment then, for its execution comes at the close of the thousand years. In those plagues the wicked suffer destruction or death with pain so severe that people gnaw their tongues, and false shepherds are singled out as signal objects of wrath, with eyes consumed in their holes and tongues in their mouths while standing on their feet.

Before the plagues fall God has honest children, both ministers and people, among nominal Adventists and the fallen churches who will yet be called out to gladly embrace the truth, leave the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant. Satan knows this call is coming and before the loud cry of the third angel raises a false excitement in those religious bodies so those who rejected the truth will think God is with them, hoping to deceive the honest into thinking God is still working for the churches, but the light will shine and every honest one will come out. The slave-master who kept a slave in ignorance and degradation must endure these plagues in punishment, with the sins of the slave visited upon the master, then rise in the second resurrection and suffer the second, most awful death. This judgment satisfies God's justice, and then the wrath of God is filled up and appeased.

Escape and Urgent Warning

During the sealing time God draws a covering over His people that shelters them from the burning wrath in the day of slaughter, and He has begun to draw it and will soon draw it over all who are to have shelter from the plagues. Those kept where they are until the sealing is past are left out without shelter from the wrath. Satan tries with every art to hold people back so they miss the sealing and covering, while God will work in power for His people and Satan will also be permitted to work.

Escape requires searching the word of God carefully, for the plagues will come on all the ungodly who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in foreheads or hands. The world regards them no more than drops of water about to fall, but the anger in them is dreadful and terrible, able to blot inhabitants from existence or destroy them with incurable sores and withering plagues from which there is no deliverance. The Bible tells how to escape that wrath by becoming perfect Christians through the sufferings of Christ and the great sacrifice made so the saved may enjoy the presence of God forever. The written word tells how people may escape these plagues, and those who neglect it and cherish other interests will be left without protection when God's wrath comes. Those who have heard the truth in this land of light and take no interest in finding this out, letting other things divert the mind and cherishing idols while neglecting and slighting God's holy word, will come short at last by their own fault and be without excuse. That neglected word is the standard that tries lives when God judges in the last day, comparing motives, words, works, and the manner of using time, and those who come short and are found wanting have their cases decided forever. The opposite of insisting on having one's own way, with thoughts and ways that are not God's and with which God makes no compromise, is surrendering the heart to God, receiving a new heart and having a new song put in the mouth with melody flowing in the heart.

Preparation means giving all to God, denying self, and being willing to suffer for Christ, with trials purifying the faithful and preparing them to receive the seal of the living God, pass through the time of trouble, and enter glory. These plagues are a danger the faithful on earth are urged to escape by preparing for the day of the Lord and giving themselves wholly to God, with the call to endure suffering for Christ set against the prospect of sharing His glory.

Those who heed the warning about these final judgments escape the plagues and are identified as God's people who patiently keep God's commandments and have the faith of Jesus. Only those sanctified through the truth in the love of God will stand, hid with Christ in God until the desolation is overpast, for no one can escape wrath by hiding behind a lie because God will strip away the refuge of lies.

God still holds out to men the precious privilege of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, and sin for righteousness before the plagues fall, but His patience and mercy will not always wait. Sin, shame, sorrow, and darkness are on every side as that time nears when the angel of mercy leaves the world, the storm is gathering and the bolts of wrath are soon to fall. When punishment of the transgressors begins there will be no period of respite until the end. For centuries divine compassion and wonderful forbearance have held back wrath while a reckoning of the sum of guiltiness of every nation is kept, but when unrighteousness swells to a fearful pass and men exceed the bounds prescribed and outrun the limits of grace, when the harvest is ripened and the holy law is made void and trampled under foot and human laws are made supreme, when hostility and rebellion reach an aggravating pass, God will not long delay but will vindicate His honor and punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.

Its symbols and figures carry deep meaning and call for close, prayerful study rather than interpretation based on human ideas, so people can understand, shape their actions and avoid receiving the plagues. The church is summoned to action over the great and marvelous sign of seven angels having the seven last plagues in which the wrath of God is finished, called to diligent study of the Scriptures and to awake to the responsibilities resting upon it, bringing the holy influence of truth and righteousness into the work and carrying it forward with zeal and determination. The time for this warning is now, in a message announced in advance that points men and women to God's broken law and calls for repentance and reform.