#08 2022Dev. Rev. 15:2. Victory! Read all of Rev.15 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read and think about His Word, to interact with it. This is God’s Story. How will His Story shape your own? All passages are taken the NIV.
Rev 15:2 “And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious…”
Intro. This vision that John sees is put into the words of men so that those who believe will understand by the power of the Holy Spirit. What is being described here is from eternity to eternity. God, who is outside of time, operates in the eternal present, represents to us what is about to happen in time, as long as time lasts.
Rev.14 ends with a harvest and God’s judgments on the earth, it seems the end has come. But no, Rev.15 enters into another time of judgment, the end is not yet. Verse one defines the the sign John sees.
V.1 “I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with seven last plagues-last, because with them God’s wrath is complete.” Somehow John was aware of the plagues, these are plagues of judgment and we are reminded of the plagues God brought to Egypt when Pharaoh would not let His people go.
V.2-4 Before we move on to the rest of the vision there is an intermission of sorts; “those who had been victorious over the beast and over the number of his name.” They are standing besides the sea of glass, before the throne of God chapter 4, now “glowing with fire.” They are holding harps “given them by God”, they sing “the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb.” Why Moses? Moses is a type of Christ interceding for the people. The song takes phrases from Deut., Jer., and the Psalms, see footnotes. Those standing at the sea are those who persevered, the persecutions, those canceled, those maligned and killed for their faith. Think about the opposition to Christianity in our country and around the world, now increasing for those Christians who refuse to call lifestyles that Jesus does not approve of, acceptable as the world demands. Here in this vision of the plagues, followers of Jesus seem to be removed form what is coming, they are praising God and watching what is about to take place.
V.5-8 “After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple, the tabernacle of the covenant law-and it was opened.” Out of the temple came the seven angels, one of the four living creatures gave them seven bowls “filled with the wrath of God.” God filled the temple with his glory and his power, it filled with smoke and no one could go in. The opportunity to repent is past, the end is moving closer. We thank God that His people are safe, it appears that like in Egypt God’s people were exempt form the plagues of God’s wrath, Praise him!
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