Scripture Daily

Context No. 384 of 4322 · Revelation

Context · Reflection

Revelation 15:1-8: in context

1I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God’s wrath is finished. 2I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. 4Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.” 5After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out, clothed with pure, bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around their chests. 7One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished.

This scene in Revelation stands at the threshold of the final judgments, and it opens not with the plagues themselves but with a song. John sees those who had conquered the beast, the ones who came through the worst that evil could do to them, standing on what looks like a sea of glass shot through with fire, holding harps. They are the victors, the overcomers, and the passage tells us exactly what victory sounds like in their mouths.

They sing what John calls the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, weaving together the ancient song of the exodus, when God delivered Israel through the sea, and the new song of Christ, the Lamb who delivered them through his own death. And here is the striking thing about the words: they are entirely about God. Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. Not a single line is about their own courage or their own overcoming. The conquerors sing about the one who conquered on their behalf. And notice what they affirm on the very edge of the final judgment: just and true are your ways. Facing the hardest thing, they call God's ways just and true, not through gritted teeth but as worship.

That is a searching picture of what real victory sounds like. When I come through something hard, when I overcome, what is my song actually about? Is it a quiet anthem to my own resilience and how I got myself through, or is it, like theirs, all about God and what he did? And could I honestly sing that his ways are just and true, not only in the green pastures but standing at the hard edges where the plagues are about to fall?

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