Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #13 of Revelation, chapter 15, and we are going to be looking at Revelation 15:8:
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
We looked at the word “temple” earlier in the study of Revelation, chapter 15, and we saw that it spiritually points to the body of believers. God said, in speaking to those He has saved, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwelleth in you?” We are that “house” that Christ has built, as it says in Hebrews 3:6: “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we.” And the “house” and the “temple” are synonymous.
The temple that God built and completed was “filled with smoke from the glory of God.” Why would the temple be filled with smoke? We know that the word “smoke” is a word that identifies with judgment. If we go back to Revelation, chapter 9, it says in Revelation 9:2:
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Three times it mentions the “smoke” of the pit. It indicates that this is the time of the transition from judgment on the churches to judgment on the world and the smoke coming out of the pit indicates that God’s wrath has begun on the world. We also saw in our study of Revelation, chapter 14, it said in Revelation 14:11:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…
The wrath and anger of God is being poured out upon the wicked. It is being poured into the “cup of his indignation,” of which all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth must drink. So “smoke” relates to the judgment of God.
In the Old Testament we find reference to the house of God or the temple of God being filled with smoke. It is similar language in some ways to what we read in Isaiah 6:1-4:
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is JEHOVAH of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
This is the house of God and it says it was filled with smoke. What we more commonly see when we search the Bible is not that the house is filled with smoke, but a “cloud” fills the house. You know, there are similarities between the appearance of smoke and the appearance of a cloud. You can have white smoke at times and, of course, a cloud can often be white and there is a similarity in the spiritual meanings. The smoke points to judgment or God’s wrath and the cloud, which identifies with the Word of God, also identifies with judgment; Christ comes in the clouds, we read in the Gospel accounts.
Let us turn to 2Chronicles. Just to set the context, this is speaking of the time when the house of God that Solomon built (at God’s instruction) was completed. Remember that the spiritual significance of the “house” is that it points to the body of believers (“whose house are we”). Once that “house” is complete, it means that God has finished saving all those individuals that were to become saved. In this setting or context, we read in 2Chronicles 5:11:
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place…
The “holy place” or the “Holy of holies” is where they had just placed the Ark of the Covenant. The ark represented God dwelling among His people. The house is complete and the ark is come in, to indicate that God now fills the house. Likewise, once God saved the last of the elect, He then indwelt every true believer, thus filling the spiritual house. So, the priests have come out of the holy place and then it goes on to say in 2Chronicles 5:11-14:
… (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking JEHOVAH; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised JEHOVAH, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of JEHOVAH; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of JEHOVAH had filled the house of God.
There are numerous similar elements with what is happening here regarding the completion of Solomon’s temple and what we are reading in the entire chapter of Revelation 15 regarding the “seven messengers.” Remember, they were standing on a sea of glass, which identified with the molten sea in which the priests washed; they were clothed in fine, white linen and this was also part of priestly attire, just like in 2Chronicles 5:12; they were wearing golden girdles and the priests also were to wear golden girdles when going about their priestly duties; they were coming out of the temple, just as priests came out of the temple; and the smoke of the glory of God filled the temple, indicating God’s wrath in Judgment Day, and no man is able to enter into the temple until the seven golden vials are poured out and, in 2Chronicles, the priests came out of the temple and they could not enter back into the temple when the cloud filled the temple.
There are just so many tie-ins and, spiritually we know why. It is because when God saved the last one of His elect, He completed the spiritual house of Christ, the house that the Lord Jesus Christ built upon Himself, the Rock. Once completed, it is as though the ark, representing God, enters in. God does say in a few places that He will dwell “in the midst of Zion,” or in the midst of His people. It began on May 21, 2011, when the house was completed.
Here in 2Chronicles, the “cloud” fills the house to indicate the glory of God and the wrath of God against sinners. In Revelation 15, the smoke fills the temple and no man is able to enter in until the judgment process is complete, or until the seven vials have been completely poured out.
Let us go back to Revelation 15. I just want to make sure I am reading it correctly, where it says in the second half of Revelation 15:8:
… and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Since the temple pictures the body of God’s elect and God is saying that once Judgment Day begins and no man can enter into that temple, then it can only mean one thing: no one else will become saved. If someone were to become saved, they would also be added as a “living stone” to the spiritual house of God and become an important part of the temple. Yet, it will not happen because God has already completed the temple. This is why the glory of the Lord fills the temple, in Revelation 15:8, because the presence of God is now there within the completed body, the completed structure, and no man is able to enter into the temple.
The word “able” is an interesting word. It is Strong’s #1410 and it is a word related to the Greek word “dunamis,” which means to have the ability or power to do something and, yet, God says “no man was able to enter into the temple,” once Judgment Day begins. Let us look at this same word as it is used in a couple of places. One of the places is in John 6:44:
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The word “can” is the same word that is translated as “able” in our verse. In John 6 it says, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and this is exactly how God saved people, because all were dead in sin and none sought after Him; none were good and none were deserving of salvation. None would obtain salvation, if left to themselves. They are like Lazarus, a dead, stinking corpse, spiritually. Lazarus could not come to life of his own power. He could not rise up and exercise his “free will” because he was dead; he had no will when he was dead. He could not hear the Words of Christ, until Christ first gave him life and then he could hear and that qualified him to respond and come forth. It was all of Christ and this is exactly how it is in the matter of salvation. So, during the normal course of affairs during the day of salvation for this world, no man could come to God unless “the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and that word “draw” has a violent meaning that indicates a forcible drawing where one is being dragged against their will. God grabbed hold of His elect during the time He was still saving and He forcibly and violently dragged each person to Himself; He would not let them go because the person was one of His elect and the “drawing process” led to salvation. It was a part of God’s salvation program to draw dead sinners to Himself, as He used His Word to redeem that individual at the appointed time through the hearing of His Word.
God did all the work (during the day of salvation) of saving, granting grace and drawing each of His elect. It was all done through the faith of Christ and it was all of God. Now if God has completed His salvation program (and He has), then He simply stopped all of these things that were involved in the process of salvation. He does not draw sinners to the point of salvation, but He leaves sinners right where they are and this is what is happening today, ever since May 21, 2011. No man is able to enter into the temple. Without the work of God on his behalf, it is not possible and God has ceased this work.
This word, Strong’s #1410, that is related to “dunamis” is also found John 9:4:
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
No man can work or no man is able to work and the “man” in view is Christ, the Son of man, who performed the work of the Father that sent Him. Remember what Christ answered when He was asked, in John 6:27, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Christ responded, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The work of God is granting faith unto salvation; it is the giving of His grace and the bestowing of His mercy. Christ did that work throughout the entire period of the day of salvation, throughout the figurative twelve-hour work day as laid out in the Gospel of Matthew. But then came the “last hour,” the eleventh to the twelfth hour, which was the “one hour” of the Great Tribulation, which concluded the workday in the vineyard. Then there came the spiritual night. That is why Christ said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day,” the twelve-hour work day that pointed to the day of salvation. Then it says, “the night cometh, when no man can work,” and this is the time that no man is able to work because it is the “spiritual night” of Judgment Day. The Bible says, “Immediately after the tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,” and when the sun is darkened, what do you have? It is night and, spiritually, you have no more salvation and that is what is being said here.
Let us go back to Revelation 15:8:
… and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
The Greek word translated as “fulfilled” is Strong’s #5055, “telio,” and it is a word that is translated as “finished” in some places. It means to “complete” or “expire” or, as it says, “fulfill.” Remember, it said back in Revelation 15:1:
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
The wrath of God is “filled up,” and this will complete the pouring out of God’s wrath. It will satisfy the Law’s demand for justice when we reach the end of this prolonged period of Judgment Day. Until then (which very likely will be October 7, 2015) and, by the way, if you go back to 2Chronicles, chapter 5, and read through chapter 7, you will find that when the temple was completed and the ark had been placed in the temple and the priests came out, there was a dedication of the house, along with the Feast of Tabernacles. That feast finally ended on the 23rd day of the seventh month. And the 23rd day of the seventh month is the underlying Hebrew calendar date for October 7, 2015, and this is another relationship regarding God finishing His spiritual house and having his priests go forth from His temple to publish what the Bible says, thus pouring out the vials of the seven last plagues. Then on October 7, 2015, it is the 1,600th day of judgment since May 21, 2011 and the 10,000th overall day of judgment since judgment began on the house of God on May 21, 1988. October 7, 2015 would be the perfect day for all the vials to have been poured out and the judgment of God to have been fulfilled and completed. In the Bible, the number “10,” or “100” or “1,000” or “10,000” points to “completeness” and that day is the prime candidate for a day in which God would complete the judgment upon the unsaved people of the world.
Let us just consider one more thing before we move on to the next chapter. Let us look at the implication we find in Revelation 15:8:
… and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
The implication is that once the seven plagues are fulfilled, then man can enter into the temple. Since we have understood that the fact that no man can enter in temple means there is no more salvation, does it mean that once these plagues are poured out God will, once again, save people? The answer is, “No.” If we are correct, the seven vials will be completely poured out by October 7, 2015 and that would be the 10,000th Day of Judgment, the day that God would finish the prolonged judgment process. The spiritual judgment will turn into an actual, literal and physical destruction of all things. Then what will happen to the believers? A great multitude of them have been living on the earth in the Day of Judgment and more are in heaven awaiting the completion of God’s plan for this earth. What will happen is that God will create a new heaven and new earth. He will give resurrected bodies to all His elect and He will bring us together into His glorious kingdom and our attentions will be turned to eternity future. Speaking of this New Jerusalem and holy city of God, it says in Revelation 21:22:
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
It will be as though all the elect have now “entered into the temple” unto God Himself. He will be in our midst and dwell among us for evermore. This is the wonderful implication in our verse in Revelation 15:8. Once the judgment is complete, then all the elect that are spiritually a part of the house of God will finally live with God in His very presence for evermore. It is, in essence, an “entering in” to the eternal temple.