Revelation 15:2-4

Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 47

Text Revelation 15:2-4

2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having 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, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. 4 Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.

Initial Questions Revelation 15:2-4

1.

Discuss the content of the song of the Lamb, Revelation 15:3-4.

2.

Who are those who are victorious over the beast - Revelation 15:2?

Revelation 15:2

Now the scene turns to the theme of triumph, vindication of the righteous, and the new song of victory. John saw the ones overcoming (ek - of) the beast, and over his image, and over the number of his name (see chp. Revelation 13:11-18). Immediately after mentioning the seven plagues, there is a song of triumph in heaven. The chorus is composed of victorious Christians, who have encountered and ultimately defeated their persecutors. They sing the song of Moses as well as the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses was a victory song as the results of crossing the Red Sea (see Exodus 14:31; Exodus 15:1-19; also Deuteronomy 32-33). The source of the imagery of the sea of glass now becomes apparent. Moses led Israel victoriously through the Red Sea, the redeemed has crossed the Red Sea of persecution into the city of God. God's victory enables Christians to sing even in impossible situations.

Revelation 15:3

What is the content of this song? (See chp. Revelation 14:3 - A New Song.) God is praised for His great and wonderful works, Lord God almighty; righteous and true are (are - not in text) your ways, the king of the nations. The word Lord (kurie - see Special Study on Titles of Christ in The Revelation) reveals their attitude toward the sovereign of the universe by submitting to His will even when things seemed hopeless in the great persecutions. The term God (theos) strikes the cord of biblical monotheism. This is most amazing in view of Caesar's claim to this title. Singing God's names revealed their absolute repudiation of anyone else's claim to this name, but the Christian God. The title, - the Almighty (ho pantokratoi) means absolutely powerful. They sang this name even when it looked as though God was not powerful without limit, because His saints were being persecuted and the dragon had overcome the Church. If He is actually king (ho basileus) of the nations (ethnôn- generally applies to the Gentile peoples. If one was not an Israelite, he was a citizen of the nations), then Rome and her emperor is no king of the nations, as Caesar claimed.

Revelation 15:4

The universal reign of the Christian God is again asserted by one of the great biblical questions - who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? The Bible does not mean by fear of the Lord what primitive religions mean by it. God's people were not afraid of Him! They did not placate Him with sacrifices seeking to turn His favor toward them. Fear means reverence or awe (the original sense of awful was reverence, now it has a negative connotation) in the scriptures when it applies to God. The book of Proverbs 1:7 contains a commentary on this word. The inspired author says that - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Hebrew word which is translated beginning has the root meaning of head, chief, or first thing. I personally would translate this verse as follows - The fear of the Lord is the chief source of wisdom. This brings out that knowledge of God should be the first (or head from root of Hebrew word) in the hierarchy of man's knowledge, rather than secondary, or last.

The song continues by declaring that God is Holy (see Isaiah 6:1 ff), and that all the nations will come and will worship before you; because your ordinances (or righteous acts - judicial decision for or against - see Romans 5:16) were made manifest. God's judgments will be public, and they will be just decisions, but whether they are for or against an individual, will depend on his relationship to the Lamb of God.

Discussion Questions

See Revelation 15:5-8.