In Dr. Draper's book, Opening the Seven Seals, he says the following about the symbols found in Revelation: "One of the values of symbolic representation is the multiplicity of meaning that can be generated. John's intention seems to have been to have the reader fix his attention not upon the image but upon the ideas that the image generated. Such is the nature of Near Eastern symbolic usage." (p. 23) In the first chapters of Revelation, John frequently writes of images that represent a temple setting. But in chapter 15, we read about the temple in a little different light. This is the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony. (v. 5) I really had to stretch and do some research on this one. Here is what I have come to think:
The Holy of Holies in both Moses' tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, housed the Ark of the Covenant. On the top of the Ark were two cherubim bending over with wings touching. This was called the Mercy-Seat and represented God's throne, the same throne we have seen in the heavenly and temple images throughout Revelation. But this is not the temple of the Mercy-Seat. This is the temple of the testimony or testament.
Several days ago I wrote about testaments and covenants and their relationship one with another. (February 20th post) This temple of the testimony is, therefore, the temple of the covenant. Throughout the Book of Revelation, God has allowed dearth and famine and wars and plagues and pestilence to torment the wicked of the world in the hopes of bringing them to repentance! God wants to redeem His children! He wants them to come to the Mercy-Seat of Christ. But by now, mercy has become no longer a possibility: now is the time for divine justice.
The angels proceed out of this temple dressed in white with a golden sash or girdle, the garment of the high priest in Israel. They are therefore pure and divinely commissioned to their task. This is not about hatred and vengeance; it is the natural and ultimate consequence of a deliberate turning away from God to a life of evil and wickedness and rebellion.
In the final verse, John tells us that no one is able to enter the temple. This is significant because on the Day of Atonement, the high priest - clothed as these angels are clothed - makes an offering, first to purge his own sins and then to purge the sins of the congregation. No such offering can be made now until the plague of the angels have been fulfilled. By choosing to follow the dragon, the beast, and the anti-Christ, the wicked have essentially sealed their fate.
Text copyright Gebara Education, March 2013
Picture of tabernacle from www.covenanteyes.com
Picture of mercy-seat from www.templebuildersministry.com
Picture of tablets of the covenant from www.askthepastornmc.com
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