The Song of the Lamb
15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
We come to Revelation 15 where John sees another sign in heaven; he calls it great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
We have come to the beginning of the end. The final seven plagues straight from God Himself, the outpouring and completion of God’s wrath against sin creation and in this world. For those who received the mark o f the beast, this is not the end, but the beginning, for this is merely the death of the flesh, they still have what is called the second death to face, which is eternal punishment in the lake of fire with Satan, his angels and all his followers as the third angel from Revelation chapter 14 warned us last week.
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Revelation 14:9-11)
With the opening of the seven seals we saw an emphasis on the wrath of God being poured out on the earth dwellers through men. There was a breaking of the restraints, God letting man have his own way, their own ruler to their liking, war between men followed, famine followed, disease and pestilence, persecution and a fourth of the earth are killed. Then with the seven trumpets and with the seven trumpets we see the wrath of God being poured out on the earth dwellers through heavenly signs and primarily through Satan and his demonic activity, we see the locusts that rise up from the abyss and torture people for 5 months, we see the demonic angels from the four corners of the earth released to kill one third of mankind by the fire, smoke and sulfur coming out of their horses mouths.
Now we come to the seven plagues and these plagues are straight from the holy throne room of God Himself, attended by his angels clothed in pure, bright linen with golden sashes around their chests, simulating the priests or the priests were simulating them and their work in carrying out the righteous work and decrees of God. This shows the holiness of these seven final judgments and plagues that are about to be poured out by God.
The word wrath here is the Greek word thymos meaning explosive, volatile, passionate anger. It is only used eleven times in the bible; ten of them are here in the book of Revelation. The more common word for God’s anger is the Greek word Orge which means anger from a settled disposition. God’s disposition is no longer settled. Here it flashes hot. So hot that everyone has to leave the room in verses 8 which tells us:
“and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.” (Rev. 15:8)
This is a holy wrath which reminds us that there is an end to God’s grace and long suffering. Many like to portray God’s grace as endless and sometimes it does seem so, for it is deeper and wider then we can comprehend. Since the beginning of the study we have been asking “How long O Lord?”, “How can you let the wicked go unpunished.” And we have heard him say over and over, “Wait, just a little while longer.”
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”Ezek. 18:23, 32.
In chapter 16 with the pouring out of the seven plagues, the warnings are over, the pleas for repentance are over, those who are going to be saved, most if not all have been saved either through death, martyrdom or rapture and the only ones who remain are those who are being kept by God to the very end, the 144,000 for instance.
The seven seals revealed God’s wrath against one fourth of the earth. The seven trumpets one third of the earth. Now the entire earth and all its earth dwellers come under the wrath of God. There is no escape, no safe place to hide except inside Jesus himself and that one safe place they have rejected. Even while the plagues are being poured out we will see their hearts are so hard against God and the Lamb that they still refuse to repent and curse God instead.
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing on/beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands
John is not sure of what he sees. He says he sees something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. This is the best description of the great expanse before God’s throne that John can describe. In order for him to call it a sea, it had to have some resemblance to a sea, not a pond or a lake but a vast expanse, a sea. And unlike most seas that are restless, fearful at times and chaotic this one is calm and appears as glass, clear and transparent before the throne of God. Not only is this sea appearing like glass, but there is fire mingled in it. Usually fire and water don’t mix. You don’t see these two elements mingle but here they do and they will in the lake of fire. It’s not the lake of fire, for John knows what to call the lake of fire when he sees it in Revelation 20.
Here it says those who had conquered the beast, and its image and the number of its name are standing on or beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. The Greek preposition can be interpreted beside or on so it’s difficult to be sure exactly where they are standing. KJV and many of the older versions translate this verse as they stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire and others beside the sea of glass mingled with fire. Some allusion is being made here of the Israelites standing victoriously on the sea shore after they have triumphantly crossed over the Red Sea after the Pharaoh’s army, the horse and it’s rider are thrown into it. Once they get to the other side, they sing what is known as the song of Moses.
If it is a sea it would make sense to our reason that they would be standing beside it, however this is not your ordinary sea and these are not your ordinary people. These are those who have overcome the beast, these are the martyrs of the tribulation those who according to Revelation 12:11
“And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev. 12:11)
The full number has now came in from Revelation 6:9-11 of the souls beneath the altar who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne who had cried out to God asking:
They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Rev. 6:9-11)
Their prayers are being answered. Their position has changed. They are no longer under the altar but stand before the throne of God as preparations are being made for God’s judgments to be poured out. Whereas their enemies, Satan, the beast, the prophet, all Satan’s demons, and all who worship the beast and helped to put them to death will be burning in the lake of fire, these who were martyred for the word of God stand on a sea of calm glass mingled with fire. They stand on the judgments of God. They stand on the purity of his word. They who experienced such chaos now stand on perfect peace and rest.
But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? (Psa. 76:6_
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:17)
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:31)
You can be sure they are wearing those white robs they were handed and now they are handed harps of God and begin to sing.
3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
Once again, we bounce between the dual theme of wrath and worship. The more wrath that pours out, the greater the worship of God pours out. It is hard imagining that so much worship can be poured out in such a time of wrath. I had pictured grief being poured out but God has grieved and been grieved along with all his saints all these thousands of years over the condition and the future of those who choose not to follow God and give their lives to Jesus. It reminds me of King David fasting and praying when his son was about to die, and when his son did die, his servants were afraid to tell him, not sure how he would take it. They were surprised at his reaction instead. David got up got dressed and ate. When they asked him why, it was because God’s judgment had been played out with finality. It was finished. It was over and God’s judgment could not be changed. David would go to him one day but his son could never return to him. In the same way, now is the time to grieve for the lost, now is the time to fast, pray and plead for the lost, once God’s judgments begin to pour out it will be rapid fire, the time for God extending patience and grace has come to the end and we will be with the bridegroom and who can mourn when they are with the bridegroom?
Last week in Revelation chapter 14 Penny talked about the unique song that the 144,000 learned which they alone were able to sing because of their experience of being set apart and marked by God to live through and survive the tribulation period. They were essentially immortal from the moment God set them apart to accomplish his purpose during this time period from the beginning of the creation of the world. These 144,000 Jews patiently lived through and endured the entire tribulation period. At the end of this period, they received several special blessings from God, one was that they were kept from harm by being marked with the Father’s name on their foreheads, another was that they were able to meet Jesus, the Lamb on Mt. Zion were Jesus redeemed them from the earth.
Another blessing these 144,000 men received was that they would follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They would be his attendants or entourage. Another yet blessing was that they were redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, a symbol of more to come who would be redeemed from mankind.
This is a reminder to us that God is faithful and he will fulfill his purposes for us. He will preserve his people whom he calls to accomplish his purposes. We have no need to fear when what God calls us to accomplish something that is frightening, dangerous or difficult in sharing the gospel. The Lord himself is our protector and strength and at the end of it all, He will mightily bless and reward us even though it was actually Him that did all the work. We simply must trust and obey and enjoy the thrill of the adventure he has called us to. Those who have said the Christian life is boring have obviously never walked with God. When you walk with God, everyday becomes a new challenge, a new adventure in so many ways. And at the end of that journey there is such a joy in accomplishment, such relieving laughter, such a thrill from that walk of overcoming obstacles and fears that you were so sure were impossible, and of seeing the miraculous occur, that it leaves you giddy and breathless.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” – Hunter S. Thompson
Such will be our sensation when we enter in heaven. Such is the sensation of these 144,000 who by the power of God eluded the beast in the end, and even these martyrs who also conquered the beast, and its image and the number of its name. They were victorious. The world would say it won but God is the true and righteous judge and the world’s judgment is always skewed. Just as Christ overcame the world through death, so these martyrs overcame the beast through death by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, they won.
The 144,000 called and chosen Jewish Saints could definitely say this. “Wow, What a Ride!” Because of this they were able to worship God, experiencing a profound sense of hero worship and love and adoration for the Lamb who redeemed them from the earth and from among mankind that a new song of the glory of God and of the Lamb was being sung in heaven by the Elders and they knew the words deep in their hearts, in a way no one else knew or could understand but those 144,000.
Have you ever heard a song that just reverberated with you? A song that just stuck with you and something in your heart said, “That’s me.” It’s almost like you had a harp in your heart and someone was playing its private cords. Cords you never knew existed until those words were sung and your heart knew the words and just sang along with them as if you yourself could have written them. Many a favorite song or hymn strikes us like this. One of my favorite ones, that hits me this way every time I hear it is, is a contemporary hymn called “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”
I have other favorite hymns; it’s hard to have a single favorite hymn. My granddaughter Rhyan the other day said she liked my brand new coffee pot which is bright red on the front. She said red is her favorite colored. I replied that I thought pink was her favorite color. She said every color is her favorite color and I had to laugh at her. When it comes to hymns, they are all my favorites.
We see a lot of worship in Revelation; a lot of singing; which made me think about just how powerful music truly is. It soothes our heart. It lifts our hearts. It touches our hearts. It unites our hearts. It reveals our hearts. It teaches our hearts and helps us remember. One of the most powerful avenues of knowledge and truth to reach our hearts is through music. It’s also a powerful weapon of the enemy for everything good is often abused. The enemy often uses music and today’s lyrics, to lift up the heart in pride, sexual lust, rage, vengeance, discontentment, self pity, and self glorification. It glorifies such character qualities and in such lyrics many of this generation use to build the foundation of their worldview and belief system unknowingly. Their excuse is, it’s just a song. I worry sometimes about the songs I hear my granddaughter singing because the tune is catchy and appealing.
Music is powerful because it does stir up the heart and because we were made to worship, we were made to sing. I can’t sing but I know that I was made to sing. I know in eternity where nothing will ever be broken and out of rhythm again that will include my voice and my two left feet and my hands. Not only can I not dance. I can’t clap in rhythm either. Every time I clap in church I throw my husband off.
Singing, clapping, dancing, they are all a small part of worship. They are secondary results to worship in a sense a joy that cannot be contained. It just bursts out from within you like a flood looking for an outlet. Worship can also be found in silence and in awe. Worship can be wordless. It rises up within you in those moments when you see beauty and it takes your breath away. As you gaze at the stars, the ocean, the forest, the mountains, the Grand Canyon, a newborn baby, or in the realization of a new truth, there is a silent awe that fills you at its magnificence and beauty that lies before you. There is great humility in true worship, the great sense of your own smallness, your own insignificance, your own unworthiness, your own inadequacy, your own powerlessness, your own ignorance and incomprehension, in the presence of such greatness, such power, such beauty, such love.
Worship is difficult to define. It is both a sense of joy and a sense of wordless awe and humility but it is also adoration of the heart. When our heart admires, esteems, respects and looks up to something or someone, this is worship. We know what is to look up to and esteem a person, to hold them in high regard. We can look at a person as we would a great mountain and be awed by them. We can also esteem and admire an activity, a method or creation, a need holding it up in higher regard then we should.
When we hold anything or anyone up in higher regard then God, it becomes idolatry. It is good to respect people and to hold them in high regard, but sometimes we hold people up higher then we should, obeying others rather than God, fearing them rather than God, loving them rather than God, looking to them for help, salvation, guidance rather than God. The same thing goes with anything created whither an animal or material such as books or technology or methods. We must watch our hearts for what we tend to worship and train them to worship God alone. The world worships anything and everything but God, and will joyfully worship the beast and all its fleshly desires and creations.
Worship is also a sense of rightness in the heart. It is when the truth of our minds and our hearts agree. Worship is the great amen of our hearts being in agreement with what we see before us, what we touch before us, what we hear before us, what we taste before us, what we smell before us, that it is good, very good according to God’s word. We call good what God calls good and when we don’t we discipline our hearts to find to see things from God’s perspective. Sometimes it is difficult to see things as good that God calls good. Part of our sin nature is that we call good evil and evil good. So we fight our flesh in worshiping things that are evil. We have to train ourselves to see them as evil because they are often cloaked before our eyes and our judgment isn’t so good.
These 144,000 and these martyrs were filled with worship, praising the Lamb for his faithfulness, his goodness and his righteousness. Their songs were songs of their experiences of their own stories and natural heritages. Those who were martyred, many of them would have been Jewish, many of them would be able to sing this song in memory and appreciation, joy, adoration, a humbling awe and amazement of what God has done for their people, Israel, the past thousands of years and how he used them in the spread of the gospel which they never got before until now and cannot fully appreciate until they appreciate the gospel and can sing the song of the Lamb and the song of Moses. It is a great time of remembrance.
“Heaven is not the place to learn that song; it must be learned on the earth You must learn here the notes of free grace and dying love; and when you have mastered their melody, you will be able to offer to the Lord the tribute of a grateful heart, even in heaven, and blend it with the harmonies eternal.” (Spurgeon)
I love how Penny said last week that we each have a song that no one else can sing but us to God, for no one else knows our stories as well as we do. That is true but there are some songs, some hymns that as brothers and sisters in our shared experiences that we can sing together that the world can’t sing. They can hear us sing, but they don’t get it. They don’t appreciate our song, our words. They can sing along but not in Spirit and in Truth, in the kind of worshipers the Lord seeks. Our Lord is seeking worshippers, true worshippers, who can sing wholeheartedly before him the song of the Lamb.
The song of Moses is the first song recorded in the bible and the song of the Lamb is the last song recorded. The song of Moses is the first song that we sing. It is the song of salvation, the song of being delivered by God. It is the song that Miriam, Aaron’s sister, and all the women went out and sung dancing to a tambourine after God split the Red Sea, and the nation of Israel crossed safely over and all of Pharaoh’s army was swallowed up in it after they were delivered from Egypt.
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his riderhe has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
The sad thing about those who sung this song of Moses with Moses, those who escaped the bonds of Egypt, who witnessed the power of God firsthand and experienced the baptism of the sea, is they failed to enter the Promised Land. Because of their disbelief, their lack of faith, they failed to enter into God’s promise. They
Then these martyrs sing a new song, the song of the Lamb.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! (emphasis added)
God’s works
In singing the song of the Lamb, they recognize and appreciate the great works of God Almighty. They are marvelous, magnificent, wonderful, surpassingly good, extraordinarily good or great, being or having the character of a miracle,
One of the definitions of marvelous is improbable, too improbable to admit of belief. Unbelievable. Tall. Doubtful. God’s works are so marvelous they do at times seem improbable and unbelievable to our reasoning and that is why it takes faith in God. God alone is able to accomplish the impossible and it glorifies him to do so. Let the world doubt but we know what marvelous works our God is capable of and we marvel at them.
King of Nations, Ages, Saints. God is the King of Nations. We talked before about how the Nations rage against God, how the kings of the earth set themselves against God and how the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed ones as Psalms 2 says, but God has made the nations Jesus’ inheritance and he will break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
God’s ways
Just and true are thy ways. All of God’s ways are just and true. The world would accuse God of injustice, unfairness in not understanding that our God is a God of truth and justice and judgment. There are those today who say they cannot believe in a God who brings judgment on the earth. They emphasize a God of love but will not acknowledge a God of wrath. It is because God’s love is so holy and righteous and true that he is and must be a God of judgment who punishes and destroys sin because all sin is against his nature, which wholly loves. Every time we sin we fail to love others and God as we should. All sin is a failure to love. We sin because we cannot love wholly. We are too selfish. Too prideful. Too fearful to love others and God truly. Every battle to kill sin in our lives is a battle to love others more and to love God more. The more we love God the more we will love others. The less we love others, the less we love God. God’s love for us is selfless. Even in his judgment of our sins, he judges us not according to how we treated him, but how we treated others, how we remember the poor and needy, how we gave a little one a glass of water, etc. As no one has loved God perfectly, so no one has loved others perfectly, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
4 Who will not fear (you), O Lord, and glorify your name? For You alone are holy.
God’s worthiness
God is worthy to be worshipped because he is greatly to be feared and absolutely holy. When we fear God we glorify his name, when we do not fear God, we dishonor him. What is lacking today is a holy fear of God.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. (Psa. 96:4)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, (Pro. 1:7)
All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
God’s worship
One day God will be worship on earth as in heaven. All the nations will fear him. All the nations will come and every knee will bow down before him in worship for God’s judgments which for so long have seemed to have remained hidden are now being made manifest, they are being made unmistakably evident.
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary(temple) of the tent (tabernacle) of witness in heaven was opened,
The Tabernacle of testimony or Tent of witness was called such because it was a tent of witness of God’s presence among his people. Its purpose was to keep up the remembrance of God among his people. The word temple here does not refer to the whole building but to the holy of holies, the inner room where the arc of the covenant was kept and where no one could see or have access to except the high priest once a year. This viewing and opening of the heavenly holy of holies, shows that these judgments are proceeding directly from God.
6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.
Here we see the seven angels clothed in pure, bright linen with golden sashes around their chests showing their holiness and their priestly duty of carrying out the decrees of God.
7 And 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,
The seven bowls, vials are containers of God’s wrath that can be poured out suddenly. Vials and bowls may appear small, but small things are often potent. These bowls are “Shallow, pan-like, golden bowls, or censers, such as were used in the temple to hold the fire when incense was burned.” (Seiss)
8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
In the Old Testament when the sanctuary was filled with smoke, no one could enter into. It was the glory of God filling the tabernacle. In the same way, God’s glory fills his heavenly sanctuary with his glory during the outpouring of these seven judgments, so great is his glory and righteousness displayed through them.
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exo. 40:34-35)
