A. Preliminaries (15:1-8)
A. PRELIMINARIES (15:1-8)
It is in keeping with his method that John has some preliminary remarks to make (ch.5 is a preliminary to the seals, and 8:1-5 to the trumpets). Here he stresses the majesty of God who is over the whole historical process.
1. For sign see note on 12:1. This sign is described as great and marvellous, which marks it as outstanding. Such a description is not given of any other portent, but these adjectives are used of God’s own works (v.3). The plagues these angels deal with are the seven last plagues (for plagues cf. 9:18,20; 11:6). The word is quite general. From the meaning ‘blow’ or ’stroke’ it comes to be used of misfortunes generally. But there is an air of finality about this description. These plagues are the last earth will know. In them God’s wrath (see note on 14:10) is completed (etelesth
= reaches its telos, its end or aim).
= reaches its telos, its end or aim).2. John’s habitual reserve comes out when he sees not‘a sea of glass’, but what looked like a sea of glass (cf. 4:6 where see note). This time it is mixed with fire, an unusual combination of images. The mention of fire may be due to the fact that the context deals with wrath and judgment. ‘The red glow on the Sea spoke of the fire through which the Martyrs passed, and yet more of the wrath about to fall on the world which had condemned them’ (Swete). Kiddle sees the Exodus symbolism again: ’A heavenly Red Sea! ... The “sea” has been forded by the martyrs. It is now about to submerge their foes.’
John sees also those who had obtained the victory which he spells out as over the beast and his image and over the number of his name (see note on 13:18). Nothing evil can triumph over God’s people. In the early church the day of a person’s martyrdom was often called the day of his victory. Barclay comments, ‘The real victory is not to live in safety, to evade trouble, cautiously and prudently to preserve life; the real victory is to face the worst that evil can do, and if need be to be faithful unto death.’ These conquerors stand on or by (epi could mean either) the glassy sea. NIV interprets ‘harps of God’ as harps given ... by God, and Beasley-Murray as harps for worship. It is an unusual description of harps (but cf. ’the trumpet of God’, 1 Thes. 4:16). It shows that the victors enjoy their triumph only because of what God has done for them.
3. They sing (presumably to their own harp accompaniment) the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb. There is harmony between the different phases of the revelation. Moses is not in opposition to Christ, nor the law to the gospel. Paul can speak of the law as bringing us to Christ (Gal. 3:24), and it is co-operation of this kind that is in mind here. Moses is called the servant of God and it may not be fanciful to recall that ‘the servant of the Lord’ is a theme of prophecy, more particularly in Isaiah. Perhaps John means us to see the prophets as well as the law as caught up in this song. Certainly the Exodus imagery will be in mind, as often in this book. The great deliverance under Moses forms the pattern for the great deliverance wrought by the Lamb. In strictness the repetition of the words the song of should mean that there were two songs, one of Moses and another of the Lamb. Indeed, some exegetes have understood the words in this way. They say that the song of Moses is that in Exodus 15 and the song of the Lamb is that here. But it is much more likely that there is but one song with the double title.
The song is almost entirely made up of Old Testament expressions. This is the one song in Revelation to show the parallelism so characteristic of Hebrew poetry. It begins by calling God’s works great and marvellous (cf. Pss. 92:5; 139:14). The inhabitants of the earth have marvelled at the beast and his wonders. But what are truly great and marvellous are not such trifles, but the works of God. So God is hailed as Lord God Almighty. His power is incomparable. From power the thought moves on to justice. God’s ways are just and true (cf. Ps. 145:17). The last word evokes recollections of ‘doing the truth’ in John’s Gospel (Jn.3:21) and First Epistle (1 Jn. 1:6). God is addressed then as King of the ages (or ’of the nations’; see notes in GNT, TCGNT); his universal sovereignty is in mind (cf. Je. 10:6-7). John keeps on bringing out this point; it must have been exceedingly important for his troubled readers.
4. In view of God’s greatness the rhetorical question is asked, Who will not fear you, 0 Lord, and bring glory to your name? (cf. Ps. 86:9; Mal. 1:11). The name stands for the whole person (see note on 2:17). The song comes to its end with three statements each introduced with for (NIV omits the second for). The first declares that God only is holy (cf. 1 Sa. 2:2). The word is hosios, used in Revelation only here and in 16:5, both times of God. It conveys the idea of perfect purity. The second statement forecasts that All nations will come and worship before God (cf. Ps. 86:9). The third concerns God’s dikai
mata. Many, including NIV, take this to mean righteous acts, but AV is better with ‘judgments’. There is reason for holding that the word has to do with legal acts and we should understand it here of ‘the judicial sentences of God in relation to the nations either in the way of mercy or condemnation’ (Charles)93.’ At the last God’s judicial sentences will be made plain to all.
mata. Many, including NIV, take this to mean righteous acts, but AV is better with ‘judgments’. There is reason for holding that the word has to do with legal acts and we should understand it here of ‘the judicial sentences of God in relation to the nations either in the way of mercy or condemnation’ (Charles)93.’ At the last God’s judicial sentences will be made plain to all.Before leaving this song notice that, though it is sung by the victors, there is no word in it about themselves or the way they overcame. Those who triumph in Christ fix all their attention on him. ‘Heaven is heaven because in it at last all self, and self-importance, are lost in the presence of the greatness and the glory of God’ (Barclay).
5. ‘The temple of the tent of witness’ is an expression found here only (but cf. 11:19; Ex. 40:34). But the Greek for ’the tent of witness’ is the LXX translation of the Old Testament expression ‘the tent of meeting’. It would seem that John wants us to discern a reference to the wilderness once again. He is using a symbol of the very presence of God himself. At the same time he introduces once more the thought of witness which means so much to him and to the churches to which he writes with their ‘martyrs’ (’witnesses’).
6. When this sanctuary was opened there came out the seven angels who had the seven plagues. These plagues thus come with the fullest divine sanction, for they are brought by angels who have come from the very presence of God. Some attention is paid to their appearance, which is not usual in this book. They are clothed in clean shining linen. The word for linen (linon) is not usual for a garment, and some accept the textual variant lithon, ’stone’. This is possible in the sense in which the king of Tyre is saluted, ’every precious stone adorned you’ (Ezk. 28:13). But this, too, is unusual, and since linon is sometimes used of clothing (BAGD) it seems best to accept this sense here. The angels have golden sashes around their chests. Some see this as a priestly rather than a military girding, but the point is not proven (see note on 1:13). But at least the appearance of the angels symbolizes their spotlessness. It emphasizes the purity from which the wrath is poured out on the world. This is no bestial thing, evil with passion. It is a pure concern for the right.
7. The bowls which convey the last plagues are given to the angels by one of the four living ones. These have their place close to the throne of God, so this origin for the bowls shows that they come with the fullest divine sanction. This is brought out also in the explicit statement that the bowls are full of the wrath (see note on 14:10) of God. God is spoken of in terms of eternity: he lives for ever and ever. This contrasts with earth’s inhabitants, for they are in time. These plagues coming upon them are ‘last’ plagues (v. 1).
Bowls renders the Greek phialas. This word was used of the container which held the prayers of the saints (5:8) and it is not at all impossible that John wants us to bear that passage in mind. More than once he brings out the thought that the prayers of God’s people, which seem so insignificant, are important. They may initiate great divine judgments. They have their part in bringing about the final state of affairs.
8. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God (cf. Ex-40:34; 1 Ki. 8:10; Is. 6:4; Ezk. 10:4; 44:4). At this solemn moment God’s glory is especially manifested. With glory there is linked his power, which is very much in place in a book so full of the might of the Lord. John tells us that nobody could enter the temple (i.e. the sanctuary) until the seven plagues were completed. He does not say that the smoke, etc. brought this about, though this may be in mind. But the main point is the inevitability of the plagues. When God’s good time has come, nothing can stop final judgment.