Seven angels are introduced at the beginning of Revelation 15. This devotional reading looks at who these angels are and what their mission will be.
Nuggets
- The seven plagues complete the outpouring of God’s wrath.
- The sea of glass contains both water and fire, both of which are purifiers.
- Those who have conquered the beast (Antichrist) and refused the mark of the beast will be standing beside the sea playing harps.
- The judgments will come out of the temple – meaning they come from God.
Revelation 15 is used to set up Revelation 16 — the seven bowls. We are given a lot of introductory information.
Let’s do the setting up.
Let's Put It into Context #1
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Devotions in The Bowls series
Let's Put It into Context #2
How do the seals, trumpets, and bowls all fit together? Some feel the seven trumpets are the seventh seal – just as some feel that the seven bowls are the seventh trumpet.
I don’t see the seven trumpets as the seventh seal. Many times, we are told just to wait. God wants us silent and focused on Him. That is part of sanctification.
Too much happens – even though trumpets were distributed – to say nothing but what happens next is the focus.
The seventh trumpet is all about worship. That isn’t judgement. Plus, remember we just said in a recent devotion that worship and witnessing always precedes judgement.
I see the seals, trumpets, and bowls as 21 separate events.
Another Sign
“Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire — and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands” (Rev. 15: 1-2 ESV)
The purpose of Revelation is to let us know what is coming. In John’s final vision, he saw God’s wrath unleashed.
Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
The seven plagues complete the outpouring of God’s wrath.
This almost seems like a throwaway line. You know, like in the 2012 movie The Avengers. Natasha told Clint that the battle with the Chitari reminded her of the fight they had in Budapest. Clint said he had a different memory of that time.
That was all that was said in that movie. We had to wait until the 2021 Black Widow movie to learn more about their shared experience.
We don’t hear about the angels and plagues again until verse 6.
Part of the reasoning for this is that John didn’t write in chapter and verse. He was writing a letter with paragraphs. He probably didn’t think that he dropped a pearl here.
Besides, John had other things on his mind. There was worship to be raised in between.
Sea of Glass Mingled with Fire
The sea of glass contains both water and fire, both of which are purifiers.
We had talked previously about a sea of glass (Rev. 4: 6). I said I see it as a glass floor. There is no impediment keeping God from seeing us, but it is the top of the chasm that Jesus talked about in His parable — or it is the chasm itself (Lk. 16: 26).
Some equate this with the Red Sea. That is understandable if we know what the next verse says.
It would probably be easy to think of the sea as a tempest with the water and fire. But I bet those looking on it from that side only see a peaceful scene.
I can see the fire as a companion to the water. Yes, the one does put out the other.
But the water cleanses where the fire purifies. In other words, both purifies us of our sins.
God is using the fire to purify earth and mankind. We know He has used it on us previously.
Water couldn’t be used again to purify the earth and mankind. God had promised us that. “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 9: 11 ESV).
The sea is deep. That is fitting, considering the depth of God. “Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord” (Ps. 36: 6 ESV).
Though the sea is deep, it is crystal clear. “and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal” (Rev. 4: 6 ESV).
So, too, are God’s judgments. Maclaren addressed that. He wrote,
“If we cannot look to its lowest depths, that is not because there is any mud or foulness there, but partly because the light from above fails before it reaches the abysses, and partly because our eyes are uneducated to search its depths. If it be clear as far as the eye can see, let us trust that beyond the reach of the eye the clearness is the same. And it is a crystal ocean as being calm.”
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God doesn’t give us His expectations in coded language. He flat out says how we are to act (I Pet. 1: 14-16 ESV).
Those Who Had Conquered the Beast
Those who have conquered the beast (Antichrist) and refused the mark of the beast will be standing beside the sea playing harps.
In other words, the harp players had conquered sin.
Maclaren had an interesting take on this. He wrote, “He calls these triumphant choristers ‘conquerors out of the beast,’ which implies that victory over him is an escape from a dominion in which the conquerors before their victory were held. They have fought their way, as it were, out of the land of bondage, and have won their liberty.”
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God calls us to victory even before the victory is won. I can see that
God is calling us to calling us to Heaven even now. Yes, we haven’t won total victory yet because we can still sin — and we won’t realize victory until we are called home.
But God is still calling us. He is calling us to grow in our faith.
We can only attain victory through faith.
These believers are going to be leading worship to God in the time of the Antichrist.
The Songs of Moses and the Lamb
“And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed’” (Rev. 15: 3-4 ESV)
Because they have been victorious, they can sing a victory song to God.
Revelation includes several songs. Revelation 15: 3-4 describes another one.
- The elders and living creatures praised the Creator in Revelation 4: 8 and 11.
- They then sang a new song in Revelation 5: 9-10.
- The angels’ song in Revelation 5: 12 and the creatures’ song in Revelation 5: 13 are songs of worship.
- This song in Revelation 7: 15-17, while it is a praise, could be seen as more of a song of desire.
- The they in Revelation 15: 3 refers to the seven angels carrying the seven plagues. They are waiting for their marching orders — and worshiping while they wait.
We are called to continuous worship. “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb. 13: 15 ESV).
Why should our worship be continuous? It reminds us of how God is working in our lives.
Even when we don’t see God working, He is.
The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb
This isn’t going to be a song of the Church necessarily. Both Moses and the Lamb are Hebrews. Moses was from the tribe of Levi, Jesus, from the tribe of Judah.
We read of Moses’ song in Exodus 15. He is on the other side of the Red Sea. God has already put the Red Sea back to the way it is supposed to be.
Just as the Israelites were on the other side, so too are the saints. They are before God’s throne.
Mellvill brought up a good point. Are we more comfortable with Jesus’ song than Moses’ song?
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Well, yes, we probably are. How comfortable are we with the Old Testament? Aren’t we more comfortable with the New Testament?
They connect, though, don’t they? The beginning is the same as the end.
- Both have been delivered from bondage.
- Both are based on salvation.
- Both incorporate praising God.
- Both cast their enemies away: one to the sea, the other to the fire.
- Both have God winning over His adversaries.
- Both provide safety for God’s people and children.
- Both establish the Lord’s eternal reign.
To me, this is just another example of how God never changes.
We can’t miss the fact that we are going to sing both songs.
The Song
The song was oneh of victory.
The song was for both Moses and Jesus, acknowledging their contributions to redemption. The One being honored, though, is God Himself.
We know that because the song is being addressed to “… O Lord God the Almighty! … O King of the nations!” (Rev. 15: 1 ESV).
That moved God from just being the God of Israel to being the God of everyone in every nation.
Moses’ song was in celebration of rescue from destructive judgment. The song by the crystal sea will have that element, also.
“The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Ex. 15: 2 ESV).
While we aren’t told the content of the song, we know that Jesus sang. “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mt. 26: 30 ESV).
The content of this song, while victorious, is kind of cryptic. It talks about deeds, ways, and acts without adding specific details about them.
When we put them in the context of the verses around them, we see Mellvill nailed it. He wrote,
“Without pretending to settle what events may be thus prophetically alluded to, we may safely consider our text as belonging to a glorious season, when Christ shall have mightily interfered on behalf of His people, and swept away those who have resisted His authority. The song is a song of exultation, sung by the righteous, and called forth by judgments which have overwhelmed the wicked.”
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It kind of threw me a second when Melville said that Christ interfered. Interfere has a negative connotation. It implies Jesus is obstructing something without invitation.
Well, He is. Jesus is interfering with Satan’s plan of domination.
The reason Jesus is doing this is on behalf of His people. Remember, this is a song of victory.
This song ends with a great statement. “… All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed’” (Rev. 15: 4 ESV).
Think about it. The worship is going to make us happy. God wants that for us. The Israelites may not have had continual joy – but we will in Heaven.
From the Temple
“After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. And 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, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished” (Rev. 15: 5-8 ESV)
The judgments will come out of the temple – meaning they come from God.
The seven angels came “… out of the sanctuary …” (Rev. 15: 6 ESV) – out of the temple. It is significant that the bowls came out of the temple.
The plagues came from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. They come from the holiness of God.
The final judgment is all about God judging the unregenerated world.
Thomas noted that the angel’s attire was that of the priests. He wrote, “The idea suggested is that no man could enter into the shrine or into the immediate presence of God until the discipline had been fully accomplished.”
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That is logical. Disciples get this discipline through sanctification.
The angels are the instruments that take the plagues from God to those who deserve judgment. The pure angels are going to deliver God’s judgment to the impure.
One of the four living creatures gave the golden bowls to the angels. They contained the wrath of God.
Are you scratching your head that the guardian angels are also executioners? “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1: 14 ESV).
Angels are first and foremost attendants to God. They are totally obedient to Him.
In all this God is glorified. He is glorified by those who accept His Plan of Salvation. He is also glorified in the destruction brought on by the bowls.
Making the Connections #1
Hull reminded us of that for which God is looking. He wrote, “There were men in the past whose battle was hard fought in the heart — they overcame.”
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God is looking for a circumcised heart. He always has been. “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds” (Jer. 4: 4 ESV).
I know, A circumcised heart sounds funny. And what does that mean, anyway?
It means that we have faith in God.
Making the Connections #2
And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire — and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands” (Rev. 15: 1-2 ESV)
Hmmm. So, the ones who didn’t take the mark of the beast are going to be standing by the sea of glass.
Is it just them? Where are the rest of us?
When I first talked this through with Pastor Steve, my first thought was they wouldn’t be by the throne. But it is. “and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal …” (Rev. 4: 6 ESV).
Does this mean we will have our own sections? Will it be kind of like the Wilderness Wanderers around the tabernacle?
Making the Connections #3
Great! What do Moses’ song and Jesus’ song have to do with us?
Brooks said, “… that all righteous issues, and all struggles of men, are parts of Christ’s issue and struggle and victory; and so each man’s song is sung with and in the new song of the Lamb.”
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All of our struggles are part of Christ’s struggles – and victory. How can that be, you ask?
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8: 28 ESV).
All our struggles are sanctifying us – working all things out for good – which fulfills His purpose.
Making the Connections #4
Some wonder, when we get our glorified bodies, if that means we will be different people. Brooks kind of addressed it. He wrote, “Heaven would be an unbearable place unless we lived ourselves individually — enjoyed and felt ourselves. And this thought is given us in the fact that the song sung by Moses the servant of God is remembered and repeated there.”
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If we wouldn’t be ourselves, we would probably be something like glorified robots.
But then we are all singing the same song. All our worship is raising to God as one.
How Do We Apply This?
- Circumcise our hearts.
- Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God” (Col. 3: 16 ESV).
Father God. Lord, we are sorry that mankind sinned. We await your judgment for those who have not returned to You. Amen.
What do you think?
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