Chapter 15

Introduction: ATHEME:  Preparation for final judgment of the Great Tribulation 

In this chapter we have another sign in heaven, seven angels with the seven last plagues. Chapters 15 and 16 belong together because they describe the pouring out of the seven bowls of wrath.  We have already seen seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven personalities. Chapter 15, is the preface to the final series of judgments which come on the earth during the Great Tribulation. These judgments are the most intense and devastating. 

The purpose of the Great Tribulation is judgment. It is not for the purifying of the church!  These angels begin to pour out their bowls of wrath.@  McGee 

15:1-4 AThe more we know of God's wonderful works, the more we shall praise his greatness as the Lord God Almighty, the Creator and Ruler of all worlds; but his title of Emmanuel, the King of saints, will make him dear to us. Who that considers the power of God's wrath, the value of his favour, or the glory of his holiness, would refuse to fear and honour him alone? His praise is above heaven and earth.@  Matthew Henry 

15:1 AIn the first four verses we see that the Tribulation saints in heaven worship God because He is holy and just. This is an interlude.  This will bring us to the end of the Great Tribulation period. 

"And I saw" assures us that John is still a spectator to these events.  

"Another sign" connects this chapter with Revelation 12:1, the first sign which, in the opening of chapter 12, was Israel. These seven angels of wrath are connected with the judgments to follow until Christ comes (see ch. 19). From chapter 12 to the return of Christ is a series of events which are related. They are not chronological but rather a logical order of retracing the same events with added detail. 

Satan, having been cast into the earth, brings his wrath upon the remnant of Israel. Also, he makes a final thrust for world domination through the two Beasts. Then God makes a final display of His wrath and concludes earth's sordid tragedy of sin. "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Ps. 110:1).

 "Was finished" in the Greek language:  an event in the future seen as already accomplished.

 "The wrath of God" marks the final judgment of the Great Tribulation. God has been slow to anger, but here He judges. Judgment in the final stages of the Day of Wrath proceeds from God, not from Satan or the wild Beast. It comes directly from the throne of God.

15:2 A"A glassy sea mingled with fire" represents the frightful persecution by the Beast during the Great Tribulation period. This is the period of time, as we have seen, where no man could buy or sell unless he had the mark of the Beast. It is going to be very difficult to get things to eat or drink in that day. That is the reason the Lord Jesus, speaking of this period in His Olivet Discourse, said that whoever would give a cup of cold water in His name would not lose his reward. You see, anyone in that day who would give even a cup of cold water to one of the 144,000 would put his life in jeopardy because the Beast would put him to death for harboring what he would classify as a criminal.

"And them that came off victorious" ‑‑ here are the Tribulation saints who have come through the fires of persecution on the earth and yet have not lost their song. They have the harps of God, and in the next couple of verses we will see that they are able to sing.   H. B. Swete puts it, Athe martyrs have come safely through the sea of martyrdom and have arrived at the shore of heaven.@

There is something very significant here. The martyrs died the most savage deaths and yet they are said to have emerged victorious. It was the very fact that they had died that made them victors; if they had remained alive by being false to their faith, they would have been the defeated. Again and again the records of the early church describe a day of martyrdom as a day of victory. In the record of the martyrdom of Saint Perpetua we read:  "The day of their victory dawned, and they walked from prison to the amphitheater as if they were walking to heaven, happy and serene in countenance." Jesus said: "Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt 16:25). The real victory is not prudently to preserve life but to face the worst that evil can do and if need be to be faithful to death.@  Barclay  

*It is remarkable to see that these Tribulation saints who have lived through the horror of the Great Tribulation have kept their song! 

Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered.

Her feet were firmly planted on the rock.

Amid the wildest storm she stands undaunted

Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.

She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer

And cries, It shall be done sometime, somewhere.

Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say ungranted.

Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done.

The work began when your first prayer was uttered,

And God will finish what He has begun.

If you will keep the incense burning there,

His glory you will see, sometime, somewhere.

                  "Sometime, Somewhere"

               ‑‑ Ophelia Guyon Browning

If these saints can come through the Great Tribulation and still sing, you and I certainly ought to have a song in our hearts regardless of our circumstances.

AThe psalmist wrote, "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Ps. 30:5). I have learned over the years that God will never let anyone cross your pathway, not even an enemy, unless it will teach you a lesson. He permits it for a purpose, for the development of your character. We need to be in prayer that we not fall into the trap of Satan and lose the joy of our salvation.@  McGee 

15:3-4   Cf. Exodus 15:1‑21; Deuteronomy 32:1‑43. Both songs speak of God's deliverance, salvation, and faithfulness. "The song of the Lamb" is the ascription of praise to Christ as the Redeemer. We have seen that in Revelation 5:9‑12.

Song of Moses: AThe victorious martyrs sing two songs. They sing the song of the Lamb which, as we have seen, is the song which they alone could learn (Rev 14:3). They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God. This was the song which Moses sang in triumph to God after the safe crossing of the Red Sea. "The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.... Who is like thee, 0 Lord, among the gods, who is like thee, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?... The Lord will reign for ever and ever." This song was stamped upon the memory of the Jews. It was sung at every Sabbath evening service in the synagogue. At every Jewish service the recital of the Shema, the creed of Israel, was followed by two prayers and one of these prayers refers to this song: >True it is that thou art Jehovah our God, and the God of our fathers, our King, and the King of our fathers, our Saviour, and the Saviour of our fathers, our Creator, the Rock of our Salvation, our Help and our Deliverer. Thy name is from everlasting, and there is no God beside thee. A new song did they that were delivered sing to thy name by the sea‑shore; together did all praise and own thee King, and say, Jehovah shall reign, world without end!  Blessed be the Lord who saveth Israel.= The song of Moses commemorated the greatest deliverance in the history of God's people Israel, and the victorious martyrs, brought through the sea of persecution to the promised land of heaven, sing that song.

But the martyrs have their own song. Two things stand out about it.

*It is almost entirely composed of quotations from the Old Testament. Ps 92:5; 111:2; Ps 98:1; Ps 139:14; Ps 145:17; 86:9; 99; 111:9; 86:9; 98:2; I Sam. 2:2.

*There is not one single word in it about their own achievement; from beginning to end the song is an outburst regarding the greatness of God.  Heaven is a place where men forget themselves and remember only God.  R. H. Charles states, "In the perfect vision of God self is wholly forgotten."

Swete states, "In the presence of God the martyrs forget themselves; their thoughts are absorbed by the new wonders that surround them; the glory of God and the mighty scheme of things in which their own sufferings form an infinitesimal part are opening before them; they begin to...hear the doxology with which they greet their first unclouded vision of God and his works."

The Book of Revelation is Christ‑centered. Don't let the four horsemen carry you away, or be distracted by the blowing of the trumpets. Don't let your interest center on these bowls of wrath. Let's keep our eyes centered on Christ. He is in charge; He is the Lord. In this book we have the unveiling of Jesus Christ in His holiness, in His power, and in His glory. The Man Christ Jesus is wonderful and powerful as Almighty God! 

"King of the ages" has two other renderings, King of saints and King of the nations. Any rendering indicates that Christ will be the object of universal worship and acknowledgment. There will be no place where He will not be worshiped.

"Who shall not fear, Lord, and glorify thy name?@

"Nations shall come and worship before thee." The day will come when nations will come and worship before the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 2:8 we read, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [nations] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." 

And in Isaiah 11:9: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." 

Jer. 23:5   "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."

Philippians 2:9‑11 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

 "For thy righteous acts were made manifest." God is right in all that He does.

 "For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright" (Ps. 11:7).

 "O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever...He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way...The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth"

 15:5-6 AThe "temple" is referred to fifteen times in the Book of Revelation. Its prominence cannot be ignored. In the first part of Revelation, through chapter 3, the church is the subject and there is no mention of a temple. Beginning with chapter 4 the scene shifts to heaven, and we see the temple in heaven; also there is a temple on earth patterned after the one in heaven. There is no temple in New Jerusalem where the church is going. Why? Because the church is not identified with a temple. This fact makes it abundantly clear that, beginning with chapter 4, God is dealing with people who have had a temple, and only to Israel had God given a temple, patterned after the one in heaven. In this instance, the reference is specifically to the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies in which the ark of the testimony was kept. In the ark were the tables of stone. Both the tabernacle and the tables of stone were duplicates of originals in heaven. Cf. Heb. 9:23; Rev. 11:19