Revelation 15:1 - 8

1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

“Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! 4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”

5 After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6 And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. 7 Then 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. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Our last study was referring to the day of judgment, this study goes back in history, as the book of Revelation does occasionally, to the judgments or wrath of God poured out on the Roman Empire for its worship of idols and its persecution of faithful true Christians.

The seven angels are seen as a symbol of the completeness of God's system for executing His wrath or punishment on the wicked of the earth.

Clear glass and fire are symbols of facts which are opposite in nature but are appropriate for this instance which is being represented.

The verse represents the Christians who had been spiritually victorious over the Roman Empire.

The fire represents the persecutions they suffered but had overcome them to remain faithful to Christ even until death.

The clear glass signifies their calmness and contentment after they overcame the temptations and persecutions which they suffered.

The beast, the image, the mark, and the number all represented different facets of the Roman Empire, the beast represents the Roman Empire, the image is the philosophy of the empire which was an empire of Pagans which worshiped images made with hands, the mark was the attitude and actions of an idolater and was taught to worship the caesars, who lifted themselves up to god status, and who persecuted Christians. The number, 666, represented the caesar, Nero was chief among the heads of Rome in his persecution of Christians. These are all significant in showing the victory was over Nero.

The song of Moses and of the Lamb was associated with the 24 elders, twelve represented the Mosaic system, and twelve stand for the system instituted by Christians.

The happy people singing the song, sing about the lawgivers of the two great institutions, but while they sing about Moses and Christ, the give credit to works of God because of the marvelous accomplishments they represented. They also give credit to Christ as a King who is true and just in His ways.

The reason for the happiness is the punishments of God which has just broken the strength of the Roman-Catholic church-state by the effects of the Reformation. They proclaim the worthiness of Christ to be glorified, because all nations will be brought to worship before Him by the power of God's word which has been freed so that all people can read it and study it. They will be able to worship God as was intended by God, the Bible will give them the truth because God has given them the word. This information they now have informs them that God's judgments are just.

John seeing the temple and tabernacle, and the testimony of heaven opened up means the importance of having God's word surviving and being returned to the people so they can make their own decisions regarding the will of God.The reason for the happiness is the punishments of God which has just broken the strength of the Roman-Catholic church-state by the effects of the Reformation. They proclaim the worthiness of Christ to be glorified, because all nations will be brought to worship before Him by the power of God's word which has been freed so that all people can read it and study it. They will be able to worship God as was intended by God, the Bible will give them the truth because God has given them the word. This information they now have informs them that God's judgments are just.

Much of what we see now and have seen and will see pertains to God's judgments and punishments against the wickedness of Rome and its persecutions of faithful Christians.

The seven angels represented completeness, clothed in white linen represented purity and the golden girdles or belts show the splendor of heaven.

We are still dealing with symbols or signs, much of what John saw in his vision refer to the severe punishments of the Roman-Catholic empire during the time of the Reformation. These denunciations were given to the kings and other leaders of the Roman-Catholic empire.

One of the living creatures around the throne of God gave the seven angels each a bowl containing a portion of the wrath of God being poured onto the Roman-Catholic empire. This indicates a large and continuous stream of God's wrath or punishments being sent.

We have seen the living creatures in several of the chapters of this book, in this case, a commentator, says they represent the saved who over come the torments of Rome because of the strength of their faith in God and Christ. Because of their victory over Rome it is fitting one of them would have honor of handing the vials to the angels.

The smoke which filled the temple was not of the incense which happened when the righteous worshiped and prayed to God. Worship is not what is happening now, it is the smoke of God's wrath against the wickedness of the Roman-Catholic empire. Those guilty of the wickedness are being sentenced by the judgments of God and will feel the punishment of God, it is too late for them to expect mercy from God, and it was not allowed for anyone to enter the temple to plead for mercy.