‘And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. And the Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter into the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.'
The four living creatures are regularly involved in activities which further God's judgments. They are concerned for the purity of creation. They guarded the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). They were guardians of the throne of God, in symbol stretching their wings over the ark. They command the four horsemen in Revelation 6 and one declares God's three woes (Revelation 8:13). Here another hands to the angels the seven bowls of wrath.
Golden bowls were used in the Temple worship and belonged to the altar (1 Kings 7:50; 1 Chronicles 28:17). Here they are in contrast to the golden bowls which held the prayers of God's people (Revelation 5:8). An angel took fire from the altar and cast it on the earth before the blowing of the seven trumpets as an act of activating the prayers of God's people (Revelation 8:3-5). It is an indication of the seriousness of the plagues that each is preceded by a pouring out from a bowl from the Temple.
‘And the Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power and no one was able to enter into the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.' The Tabernacle and the Temple were covered with or filled with a cloud when the glory of God was revealed (Exodus 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10-11), but it was at the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai that the glory of the Lord was hidden by smoke (Exodus 19:18), and in the vision of Isaiah when he saw in the Temple the Lord in His glory (Isaiah 6:4), when a purging from sin was necessary and judgment was to be announced. As mentioned above these seven angels are closely connected with pouring out punishment for the breaking of the Law given at Mount Sinai. The world is still under His Law. Thus it is smoke that hides the glory of the Lord, not cloud, for He is dealing in judgment with regard to His Law.
‘No one was able to enter into the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.' Does this exclusion refer to God's people or to all the inhabitants of Heaven? The latter seems unlikely in that the living creatures are His constant companions under all circumstances, even in the Holy of Holies. In Exodus 40:35 we are told that Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting when the cloud abode on it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle, and in 1 Kings 8:10-11 the priests were excluded when the cloud filled the House of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the House. This may suggest that what is being stated here is that, because of the glory of His holiness, access to the heavenly Temple by the people of God cannot be granted until God's wrath has been poured out on the world. This is why there can be no resurrection and His people must ‘rest' until that day. Then, as described in Revelation 15:2-4, they will have access. Hebrews makes clear that they do however have entry through their Great High Priest, for no access can be forbidden to Him (Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 9:24) and when the time is ripe He will appear from the Holy of Holies to receive His people (Hebrews 9:28).
It is interesting, however, that no example is given of anyone entering the Temple from before the blowing of the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:3-5) until the final judgment (Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:15-17). And the seven angels are previously described as leaving the Temple as priests (Revelation 15:6). Thus it may be that in the glory of His holiness and power even the beings of Heaven are excluded from His presence while His wrath is being poured out, apart from the living creatures. Under this interpretation the ministry of the heavenly beings in the Temple is thus now seen as completed and is no longer required. From the moment when the prayers of God's people were seen as heard, to the final fulfilment of the resulting judgment, no further priestly function is required in Heaven. The destiny of the world is fixed and their ministry is now to pour out His judgments on the world. But as we have said, none of this can exclude the Great High Priest. His ministry for His people will continue and the implication may be that He alone has access. Then Revelation 11:19 may be the indication that this time is over.
Note on the Law and the Covenant of Sinai.
Many Christians have a mistaken idea about the ten commandments and the Law. They overlook the fact that what happened at Sinai, and before, was as much an act of God's undeserved favour as the cross. It was God Who had chosen out His people and made them His firstborn (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 7:6). It was God Who arranged for their deliverance and set them free from bondage, even though they did not deserve it (and incidentally chose out, and made His own, people of many nations who joined themselves with Israel). Now at Sinai He is seeking to put His actions on a regular footing.
Around the time of Moses when Great Kings conquered other peoples they would enter into a one-sided treaty with them in which they would first declare who they were and what they had ‘graciously' done for these people they had conquered (they regularly suggested it was a deliverance). Then they would lay down their stipulations of what was required from the ‘grateful' people in return. This would often then be followed by a series of blessings and cursings. Deuteronomy has been seen as being built up on this pattern. This is exactly the type of treaty that the covenant of Sinai was, and it is a typical treaty of that time.
God opens by declaring Who He is and what He has done for His people. ‘I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage'. Then, on the basis of what He has done for them He issues a list of His requirements, what we call the ten commandments. The covenant that follows is an expansion of these requirement and necessary guidance as to how life should be conducted. These were a disparate people with many differing customs and such guidance was therefore necessary. And finally and graciously God provided them with a sacrificial system which kept them in touch with Him and provided a way back to Him when they offended.
It was only later that men distorted these ideas and began to look on the keeping of the Law as a way to fulfill the covenant and thus earn God's favour and receive eternal life, and it was these latter doctrines which Paul rejects in favour of the Gospel of God's free grace, freely offered and accepted by faith, turning back to the original idea behind Sinai. Thus Sinai is originally not Law but Gospel.
(End of Note).
The Pouring Out of the Seven Plagues (chapter 16).
‘In them is finished the wrath of God'. The seals, the trumpets and the plagues make up the full total of the wrath of God. Many see the plagues as occurring right at the end of time as a final act before the judgment. But this does not tie in with the description of them, for they clearly parallel the seven trumpets. In both cases the first produces pestilence (Revelation 8:7 with Revelation 16:2), the second makes the sea as blood (Revelation 8:8 with Revelation 16:3), the third affects the rivers and fountains of waters (Revelation 8:10 with Revelation 16:4), the fourth affects the sun (Revelation 8:12 with Revelation 16:8), the fifth causes great pain and anguish (Revelation 9:5-6 with Revelation 16:10-11), the sixth connects with the Euphrates (Revelation 9:14 with Revelation 16:12) and the seventh is the final judgment, ‘the great hail' (Revelation 11:19 with Revelation 16:21). So the seven plagues are the results of the seven trumpets to some extent repeated, but made more specific or intensified.
It may be argued that these intensify what comes after the blowing of the trumpets as some of those only applied to specific fractions (a third), and this is true to some extent, but whether these plagues affect all mankind is not stated and it must seem unlikely. That is not the impression given in other descriptive passages of those times (Revelation 11:10; Revelation 13:16-17; Revelation 17:4-6; Revelation 17:12-13) brief though they may be. What they do is bring out a particular aspect of the previous judgments. Thus we must see these plagues as to some extent in parallel with, although in some ways different from and more intense than, the effects of the trumpets, repeated in order to stress the certainty of what is to happen (compare Genesis 41:32). As the angels blow their trumpets the other angels empty their bowls. Now we are made to see that all the happenings were the result of the wrath of God.
We cannot overemphasise that Revelation is split into sections each of which leads up to the second coming of Christ and the judgment. At the sixth seal Christ comes on the day of wrath (Revelation 6:17). The third Woe is again the coming of the day of judgment (Revelation 11:15-18). Chapter 14 ends with the coming of Christ and the judgment. Chapter 16 ends with the judgment. Chapter 19 ends with Christ's coming and the judgment. Thus the sections in between are contemporary not consecutive. Chapter 20 ends with the Great White Throne.