Those Who Conquered the Beast (15:1-4)

John witnesses another great and awesome sign in heaven where he sees seven angels with the seven last plagues. Seven has been a dominant number in Revelation, symbolizing completeness and fullness. With these last seven plagues God’s wrath will be completed. This is a similar statement to what we saw in Revelation 10:7 that when the seventh trumpet blew God’s plan was completed. The judgment in Revelation 10 was against Jerusalem, but this judgment is against Rome. These are events that Daniel had prophesied about in Daniel 7:21-27.

In verse 2 we see something like a sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had won the victory standing of the sea of glass. We saw this sea of glass back in Revelation 4:6. The sea of glass is mixed with fire which seems to indicate that these saints had been refined by fire because of the terrible trials through which they had passed. The sea of glass mixed with fire may also be pointing to the fury that is about to come from the Lord. The ones standing on the sea of glass are also holding harps, which is a picture of victory. They are also singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. Recall that the song of Moses was sung after the children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15) while the Egyptians had been destroyed. The saints are singing a song of deliverance.

The Sanctuary Opened (15:5-8)

John looks and see the heavenly sanctuary, the tabernacle of testimony. It is interesting that John does not look and see the temple that Solomon or Herod had built. Instead John sees the tabernacle. It is not the wilderness tabernacle that the children of Israel had constructed (Numbers 1:50; 9:15; 10:11; 17:7; 18:2). John is seeing the real, heavenly sanctuary, the Most Holy Place where God dwells (Hebrews 9:23-24). In Revelation 11:9 we saw the ark of the covenant in the sanctuary in heaven. John now sees the Most Holy Place opened. This is yet another display to show where God is. He is not on the earth, or dwelling in a temple, but is in heaven ready to bring forth his judgments. Thus we see the judgments, in the form of seven angels with seven plagues, coming from the presence of the Lord. The angels that come from the heavenly sanctuary are dressed in clean bright linens with golden sashes. These images show that the angels have the authority and holiness of God and are entrusted with this task of delivering judgment.

Further, John sees the smoke of God filling the sanctuary. To understand this image, we must look for this occurrence in the Old Testament.

“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.� (Exodus 40:34-35)

“And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.� (1 Kgs 8:10-11)

For the sanctuary of God to fill with smoke was a sign of God’s glory in action (see also Isaiah 6:4). God is about to act and no one will be able to come before him to ask for mercy or make intercession. Judgment must come and God’s wrath must be poured out.

Regarding this chapter and the upcoming seven bowls of wrath, popular end times writer Tim LaHaye says, “Wild and fanciful ideas have been offered through the years as a means of symbolizing or spiritualizing these judgments. There is no scriptural basis for such symbolism. In fact, four of these seven judgments occurred literally in Egypt among the ten plagues and have never been accepted by credible Bible teachers as anything but literal� (Revelation Unveiled). What Mr. LaHaye failed to read was the first verse of Revelation 15: “Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God’s wrath will be completed� (Revelation 15:1). The seven bowls containing the seven last plagues by the seven angels are a great sign and must not be taken literally. If something is a sign or a vision, then it represents something as not intending to be understood literally. I am amazed at the number of writers and commentators who overlook the clear reading of Revelation. The apocalypse was written in signs and in chapter 15 the readers are again reminded that what we are reading are symbols.