NOTES for Rev 15:1-16:1
1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. |
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. |
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. |
4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. |
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: |
6 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. |
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. |
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. |
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. |
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Now, from the Throne of glory and from the heavenly Tabernacle, the meaning of Judgment and of God's wrath is revealed before John not as before, when he saw them as if from within the history of that fallen world to which the spiritual horizon of a fallen person is usually limited. Then Judgment was revealed to the apostle as a series of catastrophes connected with the fact that the world, being unprepared for meeting God, as it changed and was transformed, inevitably collapsed in its former quality.
Now Judgment is connected above all with witness and with the standing before the Throne of glory of those who preserved faithfulness to Christ throughout the entire preceding age, including the last times. The power of God turns into plagues and bowls of God's wrath for the world. This is no wonder: now the apostle sees the situation as it is revealed from the fullness of the Kingdom, which is preparing to enter the world in this fullness. The Kingdom is the space of God's breath and God's love, and from the Throne of glory, from its spiritual center, it is seen precisely this way.
But when seen from the spiritual center of the Kingdom, the whole world appears as the Kingdom, except for that part of it which has been torn away from the Kingdom by evil will opposing God. And this part of the universe, torn away from the Kingdom, is precisely what in the Gospel is usually called the "outer darkness." Having found oneself in this space, one can see an entire world dwelling, if not in complete darkness, then in a half-light like long northern winter twilight; but from the outside it is perceived only as a bottomless dark abyss that can be filled only by the One who created the world.
And He fills it with His presence, with His power, but not with His love; not because His love is insufficient for the dark abyss or His breath does not penetrate there, but because the breath of God, when rejected as love, becomes for those who reject it a destructive force that kills them, though it cannot kill them completely, because God does not want to destroy His creation. So God's love becomes Judgment, and God's breath turns for those dwelling in the "outer darkness" into plagues and bowls of God's wrath.
Readings for 19 December 2025
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