Revelation 15

Studies in Revelation
by Dr. John H. Roller

Chapter 15



Revelation 15:1
I SAW ANOTHER GREAT AND MARVELOUS SIGN IN THE SKY (This is the beginning of yet another distinct vision): SEVEN ANGELS HAVING THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES, FOR IN THEM GOD’S WRATH IS FINISHED.
The fact that these plagues are specifically called the “last” plagues makes this vision somewhat different from the other visions that we have studied so far. Each of the other visions described events that would take place between the time of Christ’s first coming and the time of His second coming. By comparing the prophetic symbols in those visions with the history of the past 2,000 years, we have been able to identify what we believe to be the specific fulfillments of nearly all of them, leaving little (if anything) more, from those visions, to be fulfilled before the return of Christ. But those visions have included many “plagues” – therefore, the first of the plagues that will be mentioned in this vision can’t find its fulfillment until after the plagues mentioned in the other visions have done so (otherwise it couldn’t be called one of the seven “last” plagues).
It’s like what Yogi Berra used to say about a baseball game: “It ain’t over till it’s over.” No baseball announcer can see a home run being hit in the eighth inning and say, “That’ll be the last home run of this game.” Why? Because someone might hit a home run in the ninth inning! In fact, the game might not end until the twentieth inning, and it might end by somebody hitting a home run. The announcer can only state which home run was the last one of the game when the game is over.
So, since the entire vision that we are about to study must find its fulfillment in the time between the end of the “plagues” that have been mentioned in the other visions and the time of the second coming of Christ, and we don’t know when the second coming will occur, we won’t be able to identify the specific plagues that are described in this vision until after the second coming has occurred.
It seems to me that this train of thought leads to only two possible conclusions: either the plagues that are described in this vision have already occurred (in fairly recent times, at that) – and we simply haven’t been able to identify how they were fulfilled (perhaps because we were too close to them to see “the forest for the trees”) – or they will occur in our future, sometime between now and the return of Christ (in that case, we can feel free to guess how we think that they might be fulfilled, but we certainly can’t say for sure how they will be fulfilled, because we can’t know what will happen at any given time in the future and we don’t know how long it will be until Christ returns).

Revelation 15:2
I SAW SOMETHING LIKE A SEA (like the “molten sea” in Solomon’s temple, where the priests were baptized – see 2 Chronicles 4:2-6 – only this “sea” in the vision was made) OF GLASS MIXED WITH FIRE (something that you could only see in a vision!), AND THOSE WHO OVERCAME THE BEAST, HIS IMAGE, AND THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME, STANDING ON THE SEA OF GLASS, HAVING HARPS OF GOD.

Revelation 15:3
THEY SANG THE SONG OF MOSES, THE SERVANT OF GOD (the actual song called “the Song of Moses” is found in Deuteronomy 32:1-43), AND THE SONG OF THE LAMB (Jesus), SAYING, “GREAT AND MARVELOUS ARE YOUR WORKS, LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY! RIGHTEOUS AND TRUE ARE YOUR WAYS, YOU KING OF THE NATIONS.

Revelation 15:4
WHO WOULDN’T FEAR YOU, LORD, AND GLORIFY YOUR NAME? Certainly no one in their right mind would fail to respect the Lord, and glorify His name, if they saw a vision like this! The song goes on to state three reasons why the Lord should be “feared” and His name should be glorified: 1) FOR YOU ONLY ARE HOLY. 2) FOR ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU. 3) FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.” This is a song of celebration of the fact that it is right for God to perform judgments such as these against this sinful world. The song says that the whole world will have to recognize that God is right in judging it, and they will recognize that when He comes, whether they want to, or not. If you’re not a Christian, please note: someday, you will have to admit that Jesus is Lord, and that God is right; why not admit it now, when admitting it can do you some good? If you accept Him now, He will be your Savior; if you wait till then, He will only be your Judge.

Revelation 15:5
AFTER THESE THINGS I LOOKED, AND THE TEMPLE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY IN HEAVEN (in the vision) WAS OPENED.

Revelation 15:6
THE SEVEN ANGELS WHO HAD THE SEVEN PLAGUES CAME OUT (of the temple in the vision), CLOTHED WITH PURE, BRIGHT LINEN, AND WEARING GOLDEN SASHES AROUND THEIR BREASTS (all of what we’ve read so far is the “backdrop” of the vision of the seven golden bowls, which actually begins at Revelation 16:1).

Revelation 15:7
ONE OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES (the “seraphim” described in Isaiah 6:2) GAVE TO THE SEVEN ANGELS SEVEN GOLDEN BOWLS (nearly flat containers in which one could carry something, but then dump it out very quickly) FULL OF THE WRATH OF GOD, WHO LIVES FOREVER AND EVER. When we study these “bowls,” what we’ll be seeing is vigorous judgments on this sinful world. As a billboard that I once saw said, “God is coming – and, man, is He angry!”

Revelation 15:8
THE TEMPLE WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE FROM THE GLORY OF GOD, AND FROM HIS POWER (just as Solomon’s temple had been filled with the “smoke” of God’s glory and power on the day of its dedication – see 2 Chronicles 5:13-14). NO ONE WAS ABLE TO ENTER INTO THE TEMPLE, UNTIL THE SEVEN PLAGUES OF THE SEVEN ANGELS WOULD BE FINISHED (by that time, the second coming will occur, as we will see when we study Revelation 16-19).