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Grace & Peace

Grace & Peace: Revelation 109
Douglas Wilson on August 21, 2018
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Grace & Peace: Revelation 87

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:9–12).

A third angel arrives and delivers his warning in a loud voice. This warning concerns anyone who worships the beast and/or the image of the beast. This would be done by receiving the mark of the beast on the forehead or on the hand. Taking such a mark is an indication of total dedication, total allegiance. That being the case, God’s response to this impudence is total judgment.

We saw earlier that those who refused this mark were denied the privilege of buying and selling (Rev. 13:17). But those who take the mark are given the wine of the wrath of God to drink. It is the wine of wrath (thymos), and it is poured into the cup of wrath (orge), and it is poured in an unmixed form into the cup they must drink from. In this life, the wrath of God is revealed against the ungodliness of men (Rom. 1:18), but in this life it is always mixed with common grace. The ancients used to dilute wine with water in order to “cut” it, and they also used to add spices to their wine in order to increase the kick. The two words used here refer to both practices, one in reverse. This wine is mingled with spices and unmixed with water. It is a hard drink.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 54

Ben Zornes on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Rev. 7:1–3).

Six seals have been opened, and before the seventh is broken, the apostle John gives us a reprise of the first four seals. You recall that the first four seals were the destructive forces of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Here we have four angels at the four corners of the earth, holding back the destructive “four winds” of the earth. We can make this connection because in the parallel passage in Zechariah 6:3-5, we have the four horsemen also, but they are identified with spirits or winds. “And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits [winds] of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth” (Zech. 6:5). Remember that God makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:7).

As John has been described the destruction that is going to be visited upon Jerusalem, the natural question arises. Will God’s people be spared? Yes. The Lord told His disciples to flee when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20-21), which they did, taking refuge in Pella. This protection is signified by means of an angel marking God’s elect on the forehead. What God did in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. had an earlier parallel when that same city was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Before that earlier judgment God sent an angel to mark His own on their foreheads (Eze. 9).

The forehead is significant. Holiness to the Lord was bound to Aaron’s forehead (Ex. 28:36-38). In a way directly contrary, the name of the great Harlot was bound to her forehead ((Rev. 17:5). The mark of the beast, without which no one could buy or sell, was a mark on the right hand or on the forehead (Rev. 13:17). This was a gross parody of what God required of His people, which was to bind His law on their right hands or on their foreheads (Dt. 6:8). Our allegiance to Jesus Christ should be as obvious to the world as our forehead is.

The previous chapter of Revelation had concluded with the pressing question—who is able to stand in the day of God’s great wrath. In a time like this, that is the question. John has Malachi 3:2 in mind, and the answer to that question is the seal of God. So four angels were holding back the four winds of the previously described destruction on the land, and those angels were told to restrain the judgment until a fifth angel, ascending out the east like a rising sun, with a seal in his hand, would be able to apply that seal to God’s own children. They were told not to hurt the earth, the sea, or the trees, until the seal of God had been applied to the sons and daughters of God. God never sends His judgments in before He sends the sealing angel in.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 52

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Rev. 6:9–11).

There are only four horsemen and there are seven seals. This means that the last three seals represent the affliction that is coming down on Jerusalem in a different way.

The Old Testament teaches us that the blood of the sacrificial victims was poured out at the foot of the altar. “And the priest  . . . shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering” (Lev. 4:7). This is what was done with the burnt offering, which was an ascension offering, an offering of entire consecration. We are also taught in Leviticus that the soul (nephesh) of the flesh is in the blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:11). So when we find the souls of the martyrs under the altar in Heaven, we are meant to think of this sacrificial imagery. This does not compete with the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross, but there is some sense in which the martyrs fill up the sufferings of Christ (Col. 1:24). This is because we are the body of Christ. When Saul was tormenting the saints on earth, the Lord Jesus asked him this from Heaven: “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 22:7).

The martyrs were slain for two reasons. The first was the Word of God, and the second was their own testimony (marturia). From this exalted position under the altar of God, they cry out for judgment and vengeance. As true saints have always done, they leave this vindication in the hands of God, while urging Him to delay no longer than necessary. They are told to be patient and to wait until the full number of martyrs has come in. We can see they are righteous from the white robes they are given.

There are a number of indications that the persecution referred to here is the persecution of the first generation of Christians by the Jews. The martyrs cry out for vengeance against those who dwell upon the earth, which could be rendered as land.

In addition, Jerusalem had a reputation for dealing violently with prophets. “Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33). The divine blow for this blood guilt was going to land upon Jerusalem, and upon the generation that had slain Jesus. “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Matt. 23:35). There is no reason to suppose that the cry for vengeance under the altar is changing the subject. And when Jesus told the parable of the unjust judge, He wrapped it up with language that sounds very much like the voices from underneath the altar. “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7–8).

How long would the souls under the altar have to wait? Until the full number of martyrs had come in, and then God’s vengeance would fall upon Jerusalem. That happened in 70 A.D.

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