WOFOYO SHORT: God’s Holiness Explains The Plagues In Revelation

The book of Revelation can feel like a contradiction: a good God, a holy God, and then scenes that look like plagues, wrath, and violent judgment. We open Revelation 15 and read the whole chapter out loud, then we stop on the detail that should make anyone pause, the seven angels carrying the seven last plagues coming straight out of the heavenly temple filled with God’s glory.

From there, we work the question that sits under so many end times conversations: if God is loving, why would anything like this happen? Our answer hangs on one word that gets used a lot but rarely defined clearly: holiness. We talk about holiness as separation, as “other,” as God’s unmatched goodness, and why that goodness becomes dangerous when it collides with sin. We also connect Revelation’s imagery to Revelation 1 and point out a practical Bible study skill: the symbols in Revelation often interpret themselves if you slow down and mark them.

We also get personal about the trap of “trying to be holy” on our own. The only way into God’s presence is the holiness of Jesus Christ, the worthy Lamb who can open the scroll, and the mediator who turns God’s glory from a threat into a promise. If you care about Revelation 15, the seven bowls of wrath, the mark of the beast, or simply understanding the holiness of God without fear or fluff, this short episode is for you. 

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Transcript

Welcome And The Goal

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Everybody, welcome to another Woe Folio Short. This is C Dub. Let's get in the word for ourselves. We want to contrast a couple things.

Reading Revelation 15 Aloud

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Revelation chapter 15. We'll start at verse 1. We're going to read the whole chapter. Then I saw another sign in heaven. Great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God Almighty, just and true are your ways, O King of the saints. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. Holy is going to be important in this discussion here. For all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested. Verse 5. After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened, and out of the temple came the seven angels, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chest girded with golden bands. We saw this exact same imagery on Jesus in Revelation chapter one. Then 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. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were complete.

The Puzzle Of Holy Plagues

SPEAKER_01 2:05

That's a heck of a thing to contrast. We're talking about God as holy. We have this imagery of these angels, exactly the same imagery that you see in Jesus in Revelation chapter one. And we've been doing a whole series on Revelation 1, 2, and 3, where we start decoding in a way and showing that this symbolism is used to interpret itself in the book of Revelation. And really, if you go into Daniel and Zachariah and some of these other prophetic books, it's it's there as well. Then it says, The heavenly temple of the tabernacle of the testimony is open. There are seven angels, it's a number of perfection, having seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen. So these are righteous angels, but yet they have plagues. These are divinely ordered. Now, why would a holy and loving God in the midst of his glory in the heavenly temple? Why would there be plagues? Is it because God isn't good? Oh, he is. The key is holiness here. If you understand holiness, then this is going to make sense.

Holiness Means Set Apart

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Holiness is separation. Holiness is other. There is none like God. He is the most holy. He is the most set apart. He sanctified is set apart. Same as holiness. And he is holy because he is good. So out of this ultimate goodness comes these bowls, and it's these seven plagues. If you read the next two chapters, the plagues are poured out, and it is not fun. Vivid imagery. If you were around when any of these things happen, it it's not a good time. Also, if you read these, some of these judgments are very specific on those that have received the mark of the beast, those that have worshiped the beast and the number of his name. So these judgments are holy as well.

Why We Need Jesus’ Holiness

SPEAKER_01 4:22

That being said, Bones and I, when we used to talk at work, this is well over 20 years ago, we came to the conclusion because we were big holiness people, you know, and then took a little bit of humbling for us to realize that we're not going to be able to do this on our own holiness. It has to be the holiness of Jesus Christ. If we're trying to do this on our own righteousness and under our own power and under our anointing, no, it's the anointing of the Holy Ghost paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you're depending on anything else other than the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, you're missing out because his is the only life that was perfect enough. In the book of Revelation, right after the judgment of the seven churches, there's this conundrum where they have this scroll. Who can be found that's worthy to open this scroll? John's wondering. And no voice is heard. John's weeping. And then the angel tells him, Don't weep. Behold, the Lamb, the Lamb of God, the lion of the tribe of Judah, has been found worthy. Jesus is worthy. So only in his worthiness and in his holiness are we able to approach God. And one of the things that Bones and I found out in our discussions is that, you know, we came to the conclusion after prayer, and we kind of came to it right around the same time, is that all these things of vengeance, if you really look at it, if you really study and get in the word for yourself, and you might come to a different conclusion.

Glory Meets Sin And Judgment Flares

SPEAKER_01 6:03

But Bones and I came to the conclusion that a lot of these big bad things that God did, a lot of the smiting, I sarcastically say, but God smote them. What is that? Well, that's your sin, their sin, our sin coming into the presence of a holy God. That's why some of these plagues, as it says, why would plagues be coming out of the tabernacle of the most holy one? Well, it it's full of his glory. So when this glory is coming in contact with earth, with this sinful hypersin state that that's recorded in the book of Revelation, the closer God gets, the more extreme the interactions are. You look at what happened with Uzzah, and that's merely the Ark of the Covenant. But he touched it and it came in contact with the glory of God. There are times when prophets were praying, when Elijah was praying, and men sent by an evil source came out, and the fire came out.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

That was the glory of God.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

The glory of God will become harmful when in its extreme forms, its purest forms, it comes into contact with sin. That's why you need Jesus the mediator. And what you're seeing here in these following chapters is simply going to be, you know what it really is? It's God's glory getting closer to the earth, and with every judgment you see, God getting closer, and granted, it's graphic, uh, gory, violent these interactions. How does the book of Revelation end? It ends with the city of God coming to earth. It's a new Jerusalem. There is a new heaven and a new earth because it has to be remade. I'm bringing all that out to say this.

How Revelation Symbols Decode Themselves

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Again, there's a lot of symbolism in this book. There's some things that should be read very literally. In addition to that, start marking up what the symbols mean. Start marking up, because it will tell you that this thing was coded for a reason, so John could get it off the Isle of Patmos to who it needed to get to. But ask yourself this I'm a living. And you know, if Jesus is saying, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, you know the Father's good. But how can I be closer and more in tune with Jesus so that my interactions with the Father in Jesus' name can even be more glorious without all the harmful effects that can happen. Because believe me, the grace of Jesus Christ is abundant, and the glory of God will still cause things to happen when it comes in contact with unrighteousness. So put your trust and righteousness in the only true righteous one, Jesus Christ, and then begin to walk in the glory. Woefoyo.

Final Challenge And Where To Listen

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Everybody, thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow. You can always check us out at wofoyo.org or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Audible, or even check us out on YouTube. For Bones and Myself, this is C Dub, reminding you that if you're going to grow, you got a woefo yo. Get in the word for yourself.