“…one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.” (Revelation 15:5-8, NASB)

God is love, but He is also holy. If you are going to talk about His love, you must also talk about His holiness. Yes, God loves the sinners, but He must also judge their sins. Some people cannot understand how a loving God can judge people and cast them into eternal hell. It is because they are seeing only one side of God. God of the Bible is both to be loved and feared. We must both worship Him with joy as well as obey Him in fear. We can know this about God from reading today’s passage. It says,

“After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever 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 the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.”

In a vision, John saw one of the four living creatures giving seven bowls of the wrath of God to the seven angels who had the seven plagues. The words “wrath of God” indicate that God is both holy and loving. The book of Revelation describes the wrath of God being poured out during the Tribulation Period through the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls. In the Bible, the numbers seven and three are symbols of God. It is certainly true of Revelation, which is full of signs, symbols, and visions. Having His judgments rounded into seven, in a series of three, symbolizes the perfectness and completion of His judgment. The seven angels with the seven bowls, preparing to pour them out on the earth, represent God’s final wrath upon the earth (Rev.15:1).

Verse 7 says, “And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.” These words reminded me that God is both holy and loving. First, God is holy in that He will judge the world with “seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God.” Those who reject God and choose to serve the beast will experience, not here and there partial judgment, but the fullness of His wrath. The golden bowl will be full of His wrath, and there will be seven of them. This speaks of God’s holiness: He will not let sin go unpunished and will judge sinners to the maximum degree.

Second, God is love in that He will judge the world with “seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God.” Yes, in the same phrase, I saw that God is love. Although each of the bowls will be full of God’s wrath, you can also see the love and mercy of God in that He is limiting it within the seven bowls. Now we don’t know how big the seven bowls are. It may be the size of a cereal bowl or a planet. What matters is that God is limiting His wrath within that bowl. The word “wrath” signifies that you are beyond angry and emotionally out of control. But if you were going to release that wrath on someone, you would not think about controlling it. For God to limit Himself to the seven bowls full of wrath, it shows that He is both holy and loving. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was seen praying, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Mt.26:39). What “cup” was Jesus talking about? It was the cup of fullness of God’s wrath. Jesus drank that cup and took the full blow of God’s wrath to himself, but poured out upon us the cup of God’s mercy.

The cross of Jesus is a perfect expression of God’s holiness and love. God poured out His wrath on the sins of mankind on His Son, and put him to death even though he was sinless. This speaks of God’s holiness. At the same time, God provided forgiveness to those who would believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins. For you see, Jesus died not for his sins, but the sins of humanity. This speaks of God’s mercy and grace. It is mercy because we did not receive what we deserve, but Christ did. It is grace because we received what we didn’t deserve, being clothed with Christ’s righteousness. However, a day is coming very soon when the same Lamb of God will pour out his wrath upon those who rejected his offer of mercy in fullness (Rev.6:16-17). This is the wrath of God that will be poured out in a series of seven seals, trumpets, and finally bowls of judgment. God is love and holy.

• Why do you think God limited His wrath to the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls of judgment?
• Can you see the holiness and love of God in the cross of Jesus, and how can you best explain it to unbelievers?