Read with Me
Revelation 15:1-4 (HCSB)
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. I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, his image, and the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb:
Great and awe-inspiring are Your works,
Lord God, the Almighty;
righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the Nations.
Lord, who will not fear
and glorify Your name?
Because You alone are holy,
for all the nations will come
and worship before You
because Your righteous acts
have been revealed.
Listen with Me
Now that the three angels have pronounced the doom and fall of Babylon, the world system that opposes God’s kingdom and his agenda embodied in John’s Day in Rome, and now that the harvest of God’s slain people and of the grapes of God’s wrath has been pronounced, it is time for God’s wrath to begin to fall on Rome and on its leadership.
After this point, there will be no repentance by those opposed to God, because they have repeatedly hardened their hearts against Him, and they have already refused to repent when He fired the earlier warning shots over the bow of their ship of state.
These bowls of wrath will be poured out over the next several decades, but in the end, God’s people will be preserved and the whole Roman Empire will be shaken to its foundations and ultimately dissolved. Only then will God’s judgment on them be completed.
As God prepares to pour out his wrath, those who have suffered and died for the sake of His name are gathered beside the glassy sea before His throne. This sea, described as a “pavement” was seen by Moses and the elders of Israel (Exodus 24:9-11) and by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:22, 25-28).
These faithful witnesses sang what John called “The Song of Moses” and “The Song of the Lamb”. The song, like all heavenly songs, is focused on God and on Jesus, the Lamb of God, and it praises them for their faithfulness and for what they have done to rescue and redeem the people of God even in the midst of the horrific persecution that has been going on. In the last two lines of the song, it also indicates that God’s destruction of Rome and his deliverance of His people will result in more people turning to Him for salvation, including many Gentiles.
.Pray with Me
Father, this scene is breathtaking in its scope and in its sheer glory. I love the fact that even Your judgment has the effect of glorifying Your name and drawing more and more people to You. I thank You, Lord, and I praise You because You truly are the all-powerful Lord, and there is none like You. You are the king over the nations and none, not even the most powerful from a worldly perspective, can oppose Your will or claim a victory over You. Amen.