Starting in chapter 15 we see preparation for the final series of God’s judgment, the vials or bowls. “Then I saw a another sign in heaven, one with great significance: there were seven angels bringing seven calamities, and with them God’s anger is ended.” (Verse 1) The word “sign” above is semeion, a word that describes something miraculous. However, the emphasis is not so much on the miracle itself, but on the source or purpose of the miracle. Jesus performed “signs” or miracles, but He did so to demonstrate His relationship to the Father (John 20:30-31). Here, John describes what he saw with this word to emphasize its purpose. This miracle is very important, because it signals the end of what God has purposed to do during this time in dealing with His people Israel and those determined to destroy them.
Now, it’s been some time since we looked at anything concerning the first two series of judgments (the seals and trumpets), so maybe a short refresher is in order to help us remember what the conditions are prior to these final judgments. We’ve already seen: wars, famine, disease, widespread death, devastating hailstorms, sun darkened, moon turned red, meteor showers, the sea turned to blood, waters poisoned, demons loosed from the abyss to torment men and more demons loosed to kill one-third of men. Then, as the last half of the tribulation started, the Antichrist solidifies his control, is joined by Satan and his angels (who had all been cast down to the earth), the ministry of the two witnesses and a world-wide revival, multitudes of martyrs killed and people being forced to choose between worshipping the beast (Antichrist) to stay alive or refusing and facing almost certain death.
Then in verses 2-4 we find the next parenthetical passage describing the scene of those martyred during the tribulation in the presence of God. “And after that I saw what looked like a sea of glittering glass, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name were standing beside the glassy sea with the harps of God in their hands. And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Righteous and true are Your ways, Sovereign of the ages! Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship You, for Your righteous judgments have been revealed.”
Let’s look at this in a little more detail. The “sea of glass” was first seen in Revelation 4:6. This is the floor in the throne room of God. In John’s first description (in 4:6), he says it looked like it was made of crystal. Then here in 15:2, it’s said to be a “sea of glass mingled with fire” (the KJV). Both descriptions are consistent. What John is describing is the pure light emanating from the presence of God that would cause prismatic (or rainbow) colors to flash across the transparent floor. These flashing colors would give the floor the appearance of fire and is the reason I translated it “glittering glass” above.
This pure light is described in Scripture as the “glory of God”. It is this “glory of God” that will light the eternal city, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23) and as we will see later, it’s a really big city. In I Timothy 6:16 God is described as One Who lives in an unapproachable light that no man has seen or can see. In the article “The Shape of God” I explain the passage in Exodus 33 that says, “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (verse 11). And I give examples of when other men “saw” God. So we know He must be able to reveal Himself without displaying this glory or light.
When Moses asked God in the Exodus 33 passage, “show me Your glory”, if you read it (verses 18-23), God’s answer is, I can’t because it would kill you. Instead, God said He would pass by a place where they were separated by a wall of rock and would let Moses see His backside after He had gone by. Evidently the greater manifestation of light comes from His face (verse 20). Yet, even after seeing God’s backside, Exodus 34:29-35 tells us the experience caused the skin of Moses’ face to “shine” (the literal translation should be, “sent forth beams of light”) and when he came down from the mountain the Israelites were so afraid of him that he had to wear a veil over his face.
Now, back to this scene in the throne room of God. It’s evident the martyred saints in their glorified bodies have no problem dealing with the light. They’re singing the “song of Moses” and the “song of the Lamb” both of which illustrate victory. Remember, the ones singing are “those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name”. The song of Moses was one of triumph over Pharaoh and his armies (Exodus 15:1-18) and emphasized the power of God. The song of the Lamb (verses 3-4) emphasizes His power, righteousness, holiness and sovereignty in His eternal kingdom.
The phrase “all nations will come and worship You” is a reference to both the Millennial reign of Jesus when the leaders of nations will be required to come before Him to worship and declare their loyalty, and to the eternal city described later in Revelation where these same leaders will come to worship. We’ll talk more about this when the time comes.
We’re now ready for the last part of chapter 15 and verses 5-8 that say, “After this I looked and the temple, which is the tabernacle of testimony in heaven, was opened. And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in pure, white linen and they had gold sashes around their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave each of these angels a golden bowl filled with 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 man was allowed to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.”
This is the third time we’ve seen the temple in heaven opened (look at all of chapter 4 and then 11:19 and compare them with 15:1-8). The “angels” of this passage appear to be redeemed saints. As we read on in Revelation 17:1 one of these “angels” explains the mystery of the great whore to John, then in 21:9 another “angel” shows John the holy city, the New Jerusalem. In both instances John is overcome and falls down to worship the angel, but is told not to as he is an ordinary man (look at 19:9-10 and 22:8-9). When you study the subject, the Hebrew for angel is mal’ak and the Greek is angelos. Both terms are used to designate one sent by God for a purpose, a messenger. Therefore, an “angel” is not necessarily one from the spirit realm. The word “angel” is used in Scripture of Christ, men and spirit beings.
It is interesting that redeemed men would be involved in carrying out this final judgment series. When all is said and done and we can look back on this time, we realize that God has dealt with the enemies of Israel and with Israel too, using evil men, natural disasters, supernatural disasters, Satan and fallen angels, demons out of the abyss, loyal angels, living men loyal to Him and now redeemed saints to accomplish His plan and purpose. I may be missing something here, but it seems as though everyone and everything possible is being used to carry out what God in eternity past had already planned. And to me, this illustrates just one thing: He is in total control. Actually, we will continue to see God’s actions during the end-times demonstrate His sovereignty over and over again.