Topics Research¶

Question¶

Do the seven bowls of Revelation 15-16 come after the close of probation, and why are they necessary? How do they differ from the trumpets, and what is the significance of "no man was able to enter into the temple" (Rev 15:8)?

Topics¶

PLAGUE¶

As a judgment on the Egyptians: PSA 105; 135:8,9; ACT 7:36
The plagues of Egypt: Blood (EXO 7:14-25), Frogs (EXO 8:1-15), Lice (EXO 8:16-19), Flies (EXO 8:20), Cattle (EXO 9:1-7), Boils (EXO 9:8-12), Hail (EXO 9:18-34), Locusts (EXO 10:1-20), Darkness (EXO 10:21-23), Death of firstborn (EXO 11:4-7; 12:17,29,30)
On Israelites: after quail (NUM 11:33), after refusing promised land (NUM 14:37), after Korah (NUM 16:41-50), serpents (NUM 21:6)
Denounced as judgment: LEV 26:21; DEU 28:59
Foretold: REV 11:6; 15:1,6-8; 16; 22:18,19 -- Revelation's bowls are the eschatological fulfillment of the plague tradition

BOWL¶

Made of gold for the tabernacle: EXO 25:29; 37:16
For the Temple: 1KI 7:50; 1CH 28:17; 2CH 4:8
Of silver: NUM 4:7; 7:13ff
Stamped "Holiness to the Lord": ZEC 14:20,21
Figurative: ECC 12:6
Note: The Nave's entry does not include Revelation's golden bowls (phiale), but these are the same vessels that hold prayers in Rev 5:8 and wrath in Rev 15:7

TEMPLE (key entries for bowl study)¶

Dwelling place of the Lord: 1KI 8:10,11,13; 9:3; 2KI 21:7; 1CH 29:1; 2CH 5:13,14; 7:1-3,16; EZK 10:3,4; MIC 1:2
Holiness of: 1KI 8:10; 9:3; LAM 1:10; MAT 23:17
Figurative -- sending forth forces of righteousness: REV 15:5-8; 16:1-17 -- the temple as the source from which judgment angels emerge and the command to pour out is given

SMOKE¶

Figurative: ISA 6:4 ("the house was filled with smoke"); HOS 13:3 ("as the smoke out of the chimney")
Note: The Nave's entry is minimal. The key data comes from the Strong's study of kapnos (G2586), which shows 12 of 13 NT occurrences in Revelation, with Rev 15:8 uniquely combining theophanic smoke (from God's glory) with judgment context.

GLORY (key entries)¶

Of God -- exhibited to: Moses (EXO 34:5-7), Stephen (ACT 7:55), the people (DEU 5:24; PSA 102:16)
His power: EXO 15:1,6; ROM 6:4
His holiness: EXO 15:11
Enlightens God's people: ISA 60:1,2; REV 21:11,23
Note: Rev 15:8 uniquely pairs glory (doxa) with power (dynamis) as the dual source of the smoke that fills the temple. No OT parallel has this dual-source formula.

INCENSE¶

In making atonement: LEV 16:12,13; NUM 16:46,47; LUK 1:10
Symbolical of the prayers of saints: REV 5:8; 8:3,4
Note: The incense/intercession connection is critical for the trumpet-bowl contrast. Rev 8:3-4 shows incense ascending with prayers (intercession active) before the trumpets. Rev 15:8 shows the temple filled with smoke from God's glory (no incense intercession) before the bowls.

PROBATION¶

General: ROM 5:4
Taught in parables: talents/pounds (MAT 25:14-30; LUK 19:12-27), fig tree (LUK 13:6-9)
Taught by Paul: HEB 6 (impossible to renew to repentance)
None after death: MAT 12:32; 25:10-13 (door shut); 26:24
Note: Rev 15:8 ("no man was able to enter into the temple") parallels the close of probation -- when intercession ceases, mercy is no longer available.

INTERCESSION¶

Of man with God: GEN 20:7; EXO 28:12,29,30,38; 32:9-14; NUM 16:46-50; EZK 22:30
Aaron stops plague by intercession: NUM 16:46-50 -- the most direct typological parallel. Aaron ran among the people with incense and "stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed." In Rev 15-16, no one can enter to intercede, and the plagues proceed without restraint.
God sought an intercessor: EZK 22:30 ("I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge... but I found none")
Intercessional influence of the righteous: REV 5:8; 8:3,4 -- prayers of saints ascending with incense (trumpet intercession scene)

CUP (figurative -- of wrath/sorrow)¶

PSA 11:6 ("fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup")
PSA 75:8 ("in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same")
ISA 51:17,22 ("the cup of trembling... the dregs of the cup of my fury")
JER 25:15-28 ("Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations... to drink it")
EZK 23:31-34 ("Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large")
REV 14:10 ("the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation")
Note: The OT cup-of-wrath tradition establishes that divine judgment is poured out like wine from a cup. Rev 14:10 intensifies: the wine is "without mixture" (akratos) -- undiluted, pure wrath with no mercy component. Psa 75:8 describes God's cup as "full of mixture" (containing both judgment elements); Rev 14:10 removes the dilution.

WRATH OF GOD¶

Amos 9:1-6 is referenced as the classic reading on "The Wrath of God" in Nave's Readings
The wrath vocabulary in Revelation splits into two words:
thymos (G2372, fierce/passionate wrath): 10 of 18 NT uses in Revelation, concentrated in bowls (15:1,7; 16:1,19)
orge (G3709, settled/judicial wrath): appears at sequence climaxes (6:16-17; 11:18; 16:19; 19:15)
At Rev 16:19 both words combine: "tou thymou tes orges" = the culmination of the wrath vocabulary arc

REPENTANCE (from metanoeo G3340 distribution in Revelation)¶

Churches (Rev 2-3): 7 occurrences -- repentance COMMANDED ("Repent, or else...")
Trumpets (Rev 9): 2 occurrences -- repentance EXPECTED but absent ("repented not")
Bowls (Rev 16): 2 occurrences -- repentance REFUSED with active blasphemy ("blasphemed... repented not")
This distribution demonstrates the trajectory from opportunity to fixity