Daily Bible Reading Friday 29th November 2024

by William Moody

Revelation 15

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

15:1 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. 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!1
  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.”

After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent2 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.

Footnotes

[1] 15:3 Some manuscripts the ages
[2] 15:5 Or tabernacle

(ESV)

The Seven Bowls of wrath are unleashed in the setting of God’s people praising Him. Those who sing are described as those who have overcome the beast (v2).

Where these people are, who have overcome the beast is significant (v2a). The sea of glass appeared earlier around God’s throne (4 v6), and it speaks of the absolute purity that surrounds God. The fire speaks of judgement, but it is a judgement that is perfectly pure.

The saints sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb (v3). The Song of Moses is what he sung after the crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of the Egyptians.

The words of the song mentioned here exalt God (v3b-4). The wrath of God is being unleashed and their cry is “Great and amazing are your deeds”. There is no sense of being apologetic for what God is doing. There is no questioning of God’s judgement.

The wrath of God (v7-8), comes out of the presence of the glory of God, and reveals something of the glory of God. Wrath reveals the weightiness, the seriousness of God. He is the God who regards no sin in a trivial way. The cross reveals this clearly.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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