In the hours when the unexampled wrath of God is being poured out upon the earth there will be a faithful redeemed company, who in spite of all their sufferings for Christ’s sake, will be enabled to join in the great chorus exalting Jehovah their Deliverer and the Lamb, their Saviour.
Revelation 15
1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Revelation 15:1 – J. Vernon McGee
Revelation 15:2 – J. Vernon McGee
Revelation 15:3-4 – J. Vernon McGee
Revelation 15:5-6 – J. Vernon McGee
Revelation 15:7-8 – J. Vernon McGee
Revelation 15:1-8 – The Song of Moses and of the Lamb
The imagery in the magnificent scene with which this chapter opens is perhaps borrowed from Pharaoh’s overthrow in the Red Sea, which, as the rich lines of an Eastern dawn illuminated its waters, seemed like a sea of glass mingled with fire. So, beside the crystal sea of Time, from whose surface all traces of storm will have been removed and on which the eternal morning will be breaking, we, who by grace have overcome, shall celebrate the final victory of God. We shall sing an anthem in which the Hebrew and the Christian, the children of the old dispensation and of the new, the souls who have seen through a glass darkly and those who have beheld face to face, shall rejoice together.
One day we shall see the rightfulness of all that God has done, Revelation 15:4. All His ways are just and true, whether our poor human sense detects this or not. Let us dare to affirm it even now. Ponder that great name–King of saints, Revelation 15:3. He only is holy; we need the perfect cleansing and righteousness which He gives us, that we may dare to stand in His presence. From this radiant vision, we turn sadly to the fate of the godless, Christ-rejecting world. See Revelation 1:5-8. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Revelation 15:3—Just and true are thy ways, Thou King of saints.
This is the scene of the deliverance from Pharaoh on the shores of the Red Sea, translated into the imagery and language of eternity. The hosts of God shall emerge ere long from their long oppressions; by suffering they shall conquer; they shall come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name. Behind them shall be spread out the sea of time, so calm and still, so hushed from all its tumult and storm, that it shall seem to be like sheets o£ glass; and as the morning of eternity breaks, it shall be drenched with fire. Fire here is probably an emblem of the holiness and the judgments of God.
Israel broke into rapturous thanksgiving, as the people saw their enemies dead upon the shore. “Sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously” (Exodus 15:1)! But those triumphant notes, though chanted by an entire nation, shall be as a whisper compared with that song which shall break in thunder from the saints of all the ages. Those who were brought up under the dispensation of Moses, and the followers of the Lamb in the present dispensation, together with all holy souls who have overcome, shall constitute one vast choir.
But search the song of Moses as you will, you will fail to find one note that equals this in sublimity. Here are the saints of God, trained in distinguishing the niceties of righteous and holy government and behaviour, enabled from their vantage-ground in eternity to survey the entire history of the Divine dealings, adoring Him as King of the Ages, and acknowledging that all his ways had been righteous and true. What a confession! What an acknowledgment! —Our Daily Homily
THE HOPE OF THE RACE.
What life is at all fruitful in success and the joy that attends it unless that life has constantly in view a purpose and pursues it with fidelity and hope. Likewise how can our race achieve its best endeavor unless it lives under the constant purpose to achieve a certain goal. Human life must have an object of existence that is worthy of its high endowments. The only objects which are worthy of our pursuit are Purity, Peace and Truth, and the only embodiment which the world has ever known of these supreme things was Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore we look toward his second coming with confidence and longing. As the embodiment of our highest aspirations he will be the fulfillment of all our desires. At his approach the clouds of uncertainty, ignorance, superstition, distrust, doubt and despair will vanish.
Revelation 15:4