As we continue in our study of Revelation, we come to Revelation 15, which offers a glimpse behind the curtain of the preparations before the bowl judgments occur. J. Mark studies this passage, examining the scenes of the seven angels preparing God’s final judgments, saints worshipping the Lamb through meaningful song, and the glory of God filling His temple. Through these dramatic scenes, we discover God’s solemn warnings to repent and hear a call to worship the King before the day of His judgment arrives.
Someone once said, “History seldom repeats itself, but it often rhymes.” The origins of this quote are somewhat debated; the truth of the statement is not.
If you’ve been with me for earlier episodes in our study of the Book of Revelation, or if you’re an observant reader of the book, you will have noticed the evidence of this statement. There are recurring themes and scenes in this prophetic book.
In the opening verses of Revelation chapter 8, there is an ominous, 30-minute silence that accompanied the opening of the climactic seventh seal judgment. When the seventh seal was broken and the scroll unrolled, both the redeemed and the angels were reduced to silence in anticipation of the awful reality of the destruction written on the scroll. The half an hour of silence was the calm before the storm. It is the only proper response to God’s wrath.
It is the silence of foreboding, of intense expectation. The “shock and awe” campaign against the rebellious nations is about to begin. All heaven collectively holds its breath! Each moment of this half hour must have increased John’s agonizing suspense. The hushed crowd in heaven awaits one of the greatest events of human history since the Fall of mankind.
Our study this time focuses on Revelation chapter 15. While there is no ominous silence in this text, there is a seeming interlude in heaven as preparations are made for the final outpouring of God’s wrath on rebellious humanity. It is a revealing look “behind the curtain,” as we say, at what is in store for the final days of human history as we know it. I hope you can join me for this important study.
Here now is the Word of God to us from Revelation 15.
1 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.
2 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.
3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.”
5 After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
6 And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands.
7 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.
8 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 completed.
Through the eyes of John, the revelator, we look at several dramatic SCENES as heaven prepares for the final series of judgments.
The First SCENE is,
The Marvelous Sign
John saw “another” sign. The first sign was the woman who appeared as “a great wonder in heaven,” literally “a great sign in heaven” (12:1), and the “great red dragon” (12:3), signifying the empire of the beast under Satan’s control. John describes this third sign as “great and marvelous.” Nowhere else in the entire New Testament are these two words coupled like this regarding a sign. This indicates the enormous importance of this sign. It contains the final outpouring of God’s wrath on the unrepentant sinners of the earth. Peter describes our salvation using the word marvelous in 1 Peter 2:9-10. It is something glorious, wonderful, and unusual.
And what is the sign? “Seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.” In these seven last plagues, the wrath of God was (prophetic aorist) finally concluded, finished, brought to an end. While John sees this sign in our text, the actual outpouring of judgment begins in chapter 16.
The three signs taken together represent important elements in the prophetic scene: (1) Israel, represented by the woman; (2) the final world empire under the control of Satan, the great red dragon; and (3) the seven angels with the seven last plagues, the divine judgment upon the satanic system and power of the beast. Incidentally, these last 7 bowl judgments are contained in the final trumpet judgment, spoken of at the end of chapter eleven.
The seven angels are central to this vision. Apparently, they are not part of any of the other groups of seven, as the article is not used to describe them. This new group of seven is described as having the seven last plagues. As in the trumpets and seals, the number of completion, seven, is used. Significantly, they are described as “last,” more emphatic in the Greek (literally “having seven plagues, the last ones”). This implies that the previous judgments of the breaking of the seals and the blowing of the trumpets were also plagues, divine judgments of God poured out upon a wicked world.[1]
While the word plagues in English is often used to describe disease, that is not the idea presented here. This word is translated several places in the New Testament as “stripes,” the marks left from a beating with a rod or lash, think Paul and Silas in jail at Philippi. In Revelation 3:3 and 12, it is used to describe the deadly wound received by the beast. So, rather than diseases, these are powerful, deadly blows that will strike the world with killing impact (cf. 9:18–20; 11:6).
These seven plagues are further described as acts of judgment which “filled up the wrath of God.” The concept of “filled up” means to bring to conclusion or to the ultimate goal, that is, a fulfillment of divine purpose. The word for “wrath” is not orge, but thymos, often translated “anger.” Here we see wrath not as an attitude, but as divine judgment expressed in God’s wrath. The combination of thymos and orge suggests the strongest kind of outpouring of divine judgment. Perhaps the anger of God is the preliminary expression, and the wrath of God is the final expression of His divine righteousness.
This depiction of the great and marvelous sign of the seven angels with the seven plagues leads us directly to the next scene John saw.
The Next SCENE is,
The Meaningful Song
What an amazing scene is unfolding before John’s eyes! Initially, Revelation 4:6 introduces us to the idea of this “sea that appears like crystal glass.” This description of the sea of glass is “as it were, mingled with fire.” In both instances, John does not see an ordinary sea because the heavenly hosts stand upon it. Furthermore, Revelation 21:1 clearly tells us that in the eternal, new Earth, there will be NO more sea.
The symbolism, however, is rich. In the thinking of the ancients, the sea was mysterious, confused, violent, the seat of dark powers. In contrast, this sea is designed to reflect the glory of God. In chapter 4, its description “like unto crystal” speaks of the holiness of God. Here the sea mingled with fire speaks of divine judgment proceeding from God’s holiness. The fact that the saints can stand upon it reflects the faithfulness of God. He upholds and preserves His faithful ones in keeping with His divine character.
Standing on this incredibly beautiful and placid sea is an innumerable company of those who “had [conquered] the beast, and his image, and his mark, and over the number of his name,” Satan’s entire counterfeit cabal! These unmistakably are the martyred dead destroyed by the beast of Revelation 13:1-10. They are victorious because they remained faithful to death instead of yielding to the blasphemous beast. Their resurrection and reward are described in 20:4-6. These have “harps of God,” one of the only two musical instruments mentioned in Revelation.
Next, these faithful martyrs are said to be singing two songs: the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. Some argue that these are the same, but the definite article precedes both, indicating their uniqueness. Scholars disagree on which song of Moses is referenced here: the one in Exodus 15, after the crossing of the Red Sea, or the one in Deuteronomy 32, as Moses prepares for his death. This latter song more nearly corresponds to the situation found here in Revelation 15. However, both passages ascribe praise to God and are similar in many ways to the hymn in our text.
They sing, “Great and marvelous are Your deeds, 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. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.” Several Old Testament passages are echoed in this hymn of praise, like Psalm 139:14, Zechariah 14:9, and others.
Some manuscripts have the “king of saints,” while others have “king of the nations,” as in Jeremiah 10:7. It may be that John’s Hebraic worldview motivates him to combine the expression of the old and the new in the song to the glorified Lamb. The victorious Lamb is recognized and acclaimed as the King of all His saints from all time!
The second part of the song asks rhetorically, “Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name?” When one observes God’s absolute holiness, His power in creation, His sovereign control over the affairs of mankind, and His amazing love for those made in His image, the only logical response is worship. And, as these redeemed ones sing, “All peoples shall come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Paul predicts this reality in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The song closes with joyful anticipation of the millennial reign of Christ, when all the nations will come and worship before God. In the words of the psalmist, “All the earth will worship You, and will sing praises to You; they will sing praises to Your name” (Psalm 66:4). In the earthly, millennial kingdom, “it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths” (Zechariah 14:16). After God’s righteous acts of judgment have been revealed during the Tribulation, the time anticipated by Isaiah will come: “‘And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23).
Every human being who has ever lived or will yet live, including you and me, will bow in worship before the Lamb. The only choice we have is when we will bow in worship; now, voluntarily, or at the judgment, under compulsion. Let’s worship and praise the Lamb NOW so we are ready for an eternity in His presence.
The Final SCENE is,
The Menacing Sentence
The phrase “after these things, I looked” introduces a startling, dramatic new vision. Something drew John’s attention away from the redeemed saints singing their praises before God’s glorious throne. This new vision revealed to him the bowl judgments, but first John saw the angels who will carry out those judgments.
John saw 7 angels come out of the temple, that is, “the tent of witness,” bearing the seven climactic judgments. They were clothed in pure, white linen and wore golden sashes across their chests. The “sanctuary” is the Holy of Holies, which was also the location (or “tent”) of the ark of the Covenant, called the ark of the Testimony throughout Exodus 25-40. Revelation 15:8 supports this rendering, for we read that the smoke from God’s Shekinah filled the sanctuary; in Exodus and Ezekiel, God’s glory inhabited the sanctuary. These final “bowl” judgments are rooted in God’s ultimate holiness, resulting in the hatred of evil.
As John watches, one of the four living creatures that are continually before God’s throne comes forward and gives each of the 7 angels one of the seven bowls containing the last plagues. The contents of these bowls are frightful indeed! They are filled with the undiluted wrath of God who lives forever and ever.
In Revelation 13:6, the beast insulted God’s name, His Shekinah glory, and those in heaven. He was allowed to make war on God’s holy people and defeat them. Now, the tables have turned; God’s people are victorious, and God’s fury is poured out on all who follow the beast.
We learned in the previous episode, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and receive the mark of his name” (14:9-11).
The phrase, “for ever and ever,” occurs 21 times in the book of Revelation, 17 of them stress the uniquely eternal nature of God. Three times it refers to the never-ending punishment of the ungodly. And yet some Bible teachers deny the reality of this and embrace conditional immortality or annihilationism. Once, in its final occurrence, it refers to the never-ending blessedness of the redeemed. “The Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). In my simple way of believing, “forever means forever.” If it means forever for eternal life, then it must mean forever for eternal punishment!
As the angels emerge from the sanctuary, it is filled with smoke emanating from the glory of God and His power, a graphic reminder of the indescribable holiness of God. The scene can be compared to that when the cloud filled the Tabernacle in Exodus 40:34-35. Access into the sanctuary is impossible until the judgments contained in the seven plagues are fulfilled. It is an ominous sign of impending doom for those who persist in their blasphemous disregard of God’s sovereignty and holiness.[2] It is as though God cannot be approached at the moment when He is revealing Himself in all the terrors of His indignation. We cannot imagine the terror of these final judgments!
The scene described in this chapter establishes the background for the final, conclusive judgments, poured out in chapter 16. Once, the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ because of what He did for sinners; in the future, wrath will be poured out on sinners because of what they did to Jesus Christ.
By the time God pours out His final wrath on earth, sinners will have been warned repeatedly to repent. They will have experienced numerous terrifying judgments, which they will acknowledge came from God. They will have heard the saving message of the gospel preached by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the two witnesses, other redeemed Gentiles and Jews, even from an angel flying in midheaven. Yet, tragically, they will harden their hearts and fall into calamity. They will pay a fearful price for failing to heed the Scripture’s warning: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:15; 4:7).
The marvelous sign, the meaningful song, and the menacing sentence clearly show us that heaven’s preparations are already made. What preparations have you made to escape the wrath of Almighty God?
[1] Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 232
[2] Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 237
