How an Informal One-To-One Bible Study on Revelations 15 Led to a Successful Prophecy Investigation
Some time ago a church brother of mine and I were traveling together on a trip to the country.
During the journey he raised a discussion, which seems to turn into an informal Bible study on Revelations 15.
He said that another brother pointed out to him that the scene presented in verses 2-4 where the saints were seen singing on the sea of glass could be cited to support the idea that the people of God will be caught up to heaven in a secret rapture just before the mark-of-the-beast crisis.
When I looked at the text, it seems to be so on the face of it; it would appear that the saints are in heaven while the "wrath of God" is about to be poured out.
But on closer examination we can see where in at least one instance it just does not fit into the rapture theory as it first appeared.
Concerning the saints who were seen on the sea of glass, the Bible said that they got victory over the beast and his image! In this declaration is the clear teaching that the saints went through the crisis of the mark of the beast, thus destroying the idea that they will be caught up prior to this event.
Even though we manage to establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that this text offers no support for a pre-tribulation rapture, the discussion was unable to go any further to unravel the difficulty with explaining the presence of the saints on the sea of glass just before the seven angels pour out the seven plagues upon the earth.
Though informal, this seems to be one of those discussions that would motivate any prophecy student into a meaningful Bible study on Revelations.
It certainly set me on an investigative path to find the answers to what seems to be a very difficult chapter in the book of Revelations.
But when you come across challenges like these you must always bear in mind the fact that for every difficult Bible text, there is a Bible solution.
We must always allow controversies and difficulties to stir us up to study the scriptures with more diligence instead of throwing in the towel and say "this is not for me".
I eventually figured it out in a twenty-minute Bible study on Revelations 14 and 15; thank God for those years of experience in end-time prophecy studies.
What I realized is that you cannot understand chapter 15 without consulting the preceding chapter.
And that is one of the reasons why we cannot study the chapters in the book of Revelations in isolation because the theme of one chapter sometimes continues into another chapter in a way that is not easily noticed.
Certainly, Bible study on Revelations would be meaningless if you fail to see a cohesive narrative progression of last-day events.
When I looked at both chapters together, I can clearly see how the succeeding chapters fit into the mix.
Towards the latter part of chapter 14 going into chapter 15, you will see where the Bible is setting up the principle of repetition and enlargement.
Repetition and enlargement is a principle in scripture where a particular event is mentioned twice; the first mention is in summary, and the second mention provides more details.
Here is how the principle is illustrated (you can do a more detailed Bible study on Revelations 14 and 15 to confirm this).
In Revelations 14:14-20 the following is a summary of end-time events: • The first reaping - In the words of the prophet John, this is called 'the harvest of the earth', and will come as a result of the gospel proclamation mentioned in verses 6-12.
This reaping activity falls in line with the parable of the harvest in Matthew 13:24-42.
• The second reaping - This activity is where the clusters of the vine are cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
This is a summary of the outpouring of the seven last plagues, which is given to us in details in chapter 16.
The punishment of sinners under the "wrath of God" will culminate in the destruction of Babylon in the latter part of chapter 16, flowing into chapters 17,18, and the first few verses of chapter 19.
• The treading of the winepress - This is the next event that is supposed to follow in the sequence.
According to this summary, "...
the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles" (Rev.
14:20).
If you examine this particular verse close enough, you will see that this is a clear reference to chapter 19:11-21, which speaks of the Second Coming of Christ.
It is said the King of kings and Lord of lords "...
treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (vs 15).
• The saints standing on the sea of glass - The summary continues in Revelations 15, recounting the final destiny of the saints who have gotten victory over the beast and his image.
In my little 20-minute Bible study on Revelations 15, I saw where we were thrown off track.
The mistake that we made is to assume that because the seven last plagues was introduced in the first verse, everything that comes after is simultaneous to that event.
Here is why this is not so.
After we read the account of the saints standing on the sea of glass in verses 2-4, here is what the next two verses says, "And AFTER that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues..
..
..
" Rev.
15:5, 6.
(Emphasis supplied) From these verses you will see that this is where the Bible begin to give details of events of which we were already given a summary.
Thus, we have a clear transition from summary to details.
From the above text we are about to be told how the cluster of the vine were cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
In all the subsequent details we are supposed to see a clear narrative sequence base on the summary set out above.
The sameness between the saints in Revelation 15:2 and those in chapter 20:4 From the narrative development, you can see that the scene of the saints standing on the sea of glass is not suppose to be an event that synchronizes with the seven angels leaving the temple on their way to execute the wrath of God upon the earth! This scene is another in the summary that began in chapter 14, the details of which are found in chapter 20.
You will see that right after the treading of the winepress in chapter 19, the narrative flows into chapter 20 where it mentions the same group of saints "which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands" Rev.
20:4.
Thus, the scene of the saints in heaven, singing their victory song, is rightly placed after the Second Coming of Christ (the treading of the winepress).
In your Bible study on Revelations 14 and 15, in comparison to the succeeding chapters (16-20), you will see a clear picture of a narrative chronology in both summary and details.
A failure to see the book of Revelation as a set of visions given in narrative order is one of the main reasons why we are having so many problems understanding it.
During the journey he raised a discussion, which seems to turn into an informal Bible study on Revelations 15.
He said that another brother pointed out to him that the scene presented in verses 2-4 where the saints were seen singing on the sea of glass could be cited to support the idea that the people of God will be caught up to heaven in a secret rapture just before the mark-of-the-beast crisis.
When I looked at the text, it seems to be so on the face of it; it would appear that the saints are in heaven while the "wrath of God" is about to be poured out.
But on closer examination we can see where in at least one instance it just does not fit into the rapture theory as it first appeared.
Concerning the saints who were seen on the sea of glass, the Bible said that they got victory over the beast and his image! In this declaration is the clear teaching that the saints went through the crisis of the mark of the beast, thus destroying the idea that they will be caught up prior to this event.
Even though we manage to establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that this text offers no support for a pre-tribulation rapture, the discussion was unable to go any further to unravel the difficulty with explaining the presence of the saints on the sea of glass just before the seven angels pour out the seven plagues upon the earth.
Though informal, this seems to be one of those discussions that would motivate any prophecy student into a meaningful Bible study on Revelations.
It certainly set me on an investigative path to find the answers to what seems to be a very difficult chapter in the book of Revelations.
But when you come across challenges like these you must always bear in mind the fact that for every difficult Bible text, there is a Bible solution.
We must always allow controversies and difficulties to stir us up to study the scriptures with more diligence instead of throwing in the towel and say "this is not for me".
I eventually figured it out in a twenty-minute Bible study on Revelations 14 and 15; thank God for those years of experience in end-time prophecy studies.
What I realized is that you cannot understand chapter 15 without consulting the preceding chapter.
And that is one of the reasons why we cannot study the chapters in the book of Revelations in isolation because the theme of one chapter sometimes continues into another chapter in a way that is not easily noticed.
Certainly, Bible study on Revelations would be meaningless if you fail to see a cohesive narrative progression of last-day events.
When I looked at both chapters together, I can clearly see how the succeeding chapters fit into the mix.
Towards the latter part of chapter 14 going into chapter 15, you will see where the Bible is setting up the principle of repetition and enlargement.
Repetition and enlargement is a principle in scripture where a particular event is mentioned twice; the first mention is in summary, and the second mention provides more details.
Here is how the principle is illustrated (you can do a more detailed Bible study on Revelations 14 and 15 to confirm this).
In Revelations 14:14-20 the following is a summary of end-time events: • The first reaping - In the words of the prophet John, this is called 'the harvest of the earth', and will come as a result of the gospel proclamation mentioned in verses 6-12.
This reaping activity falls in line with the parable of the harvest in Matthew 13:24-42.
• The second reaping - This activity is where the clusters of the vine are cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
This is a summary of the outpouring of the seven last plagues, which is given to us in details in chapter 16.
The punishment of sinners under the "wrath of God" will culminate in the destruction of Babylon in the latter part of chapter 16, flowing into chapters 17,18, and the first few verses of chapter 19.
• The treading of the winepress - This is the next event that is supposed to follow in the sequence.
According to this summary, "...
the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles" (Rev.
14:20).
If you examine this particular verse close enough, you will see that this is a clear reference to chapter 19:11-21, which speaks of the Second Coming of Christ.
It is said the King of kings and Lord of lords "...
treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (vs 15).
• The saints standing on the sea of glass - The summary continues in Revelations 15, recounting the final destiny of the saints who have gotten victory over the beast and his image.
In my little 20-minute Bible study on Revelations 15, I saw where we were thrown off track.
The mistake that we made is to assume that because the seven last plagues was introduced in the first verse, everything that comes after is simultaneous to that event.
Here is why this is not so.
After we read the account of the saints standing on the sea of glass in verses 2-4, here is what the next two verses says, "And AFTER that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues..
..
..
" Rev.
15:5, 6.
(Emphasis supplied) From these verses you will see that this is where the Bible begin to give details of events of which we were already given a summary.
Thus, we have a clear transition from summary to details.
From the above text we are about to be told how the cluster of the vine were cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
In all the subsequent details we are supposed to see a clear narrative sequence base on the summary set out above.
The sameness between the saints in Revelation 15:2 and those in chapter 20:4 From the narrative development, you can see that the scene of the saints standing on the sea of glass is not suppose to be an event that synchronizes with the seven angels leaving the temple on their way to execute the wrath of God upon the earth! This scene is another in the summary that began in chapter 14, the details of which are found in chapter 20.
You will see that right after the treading of the winepress in chapter 19, the narrative flows into chapter 20 where it mentions the same group of saints "which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands" Rev.
20:4.
Thus, the scene of the saints in heaven, singing their victory song, is rightly placed after the Second Coming of Christ (the treading of the winepress).
In your Bible study on Revelations 14 and 15, in comparison to the succeeding chapters (16-20), you will see a clear picture of a narrative chronology in both summary and details.
A failure to see the book of Revelation as a set of visions given in narrative order is one of the main reasons why we are having so many problems understanding it.
Source...