Revelation 15: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

John sees seven angels holding the seven last plagues, in which God's wrath is completed. Beside a sea of glass mixed with fire stand those who came through their conflict with the beast, singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Then the temple in heaven opens, the seven angels come out in linen and gold, and one of the four living creatures hands them seven golden bowls full of God's wrath. Smoke from God's glory and power fills the temple so that no one can enter until the seven plagues are finished.

Claim by Claim

1. 15:1
   • John saw another sign in heaven.
   • The sign was great and marvelous.
   • The sign was seven angels.
   • The seven angels had the seven last plagues.
   • In those plagues the wrath of God is completed.
2. 15:2
   • John saw what looked like a sea of glass mingled with fire.
   • John saw those who had conquered the beast.
   • They had conquered the beast's image.
   • They had conquered the beast's mark.
   • They had conquered the number of the beast's name.
   • They were standing on the sea of glass.
   • They were holding harps of God.
3. 15:3
   • They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God.
   • They sing the song of the Lamb.
   • They say that God's works are great and marvelous.
   • They address God as Lord God Almighty.
   • They say that God's ways are just and true.
   • They call God the King of saints.
4. 15:4
   • They ask who will not fear the Lord and glorify his name.
   • They say God alone is holy.
   • They say all nations will come and worship before God.
   • They say God's righteous judgments have been made manifest.
5. 15:5
   • After that John looked.
   • The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
6. 15:6
   • The seven angels came out of the temple.
   • The seven angels had the seven plagues.
   • The angels were clothed in clean, bright linen.
   • The angels were girded about the chest with golden sashes.
7. 15:7
   • One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls.
   • The bowls were full of the wrath of God.
   • God lives forever and ever.
8. 15:8
   • The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God.
   • The smoke came also from God's power.
   • No one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

15:1

"Sign" translates a Greek word for a portent, a marvel displayed in the sky that signals something coming; it is the same word used of the woman and the dragon in chapter 12, which is why this one is "another" sign. "Plague" in older English means any blow or disaster sent as a stroke against people, not only an outbreak of disease. "In them is filled up the wrath of God" uses the image of a container being topped up to the brim: with these seven, the measure is complete and nothing more follows.

15:2

The sea of glass was described back in chapter 4 as spread out in front of God's throne, like a floor of crystal; here it is shot through with fire. The Greek preposition behind "stand on the sea of glass" can mean either standing on it or standing beside it at its edge, and translators divide over which is meant. The beast, its image and its mark all come from chapter 13, where a beast rises from the sea, a statue of it is set up and people are marked on the hand or forehead to buy and sell. "The number of his name" refers to the practice, common in the ancient world, of adding up the numerical values of the letters in a name; chapter 13 gives that number as 666. The harps are the kithara, a lyre-shaped stringed instrument used in temple worship and in victory songs.

15:3

The song of Moses is the song in Exodus 15, sung by the Israelites on the far shore after they came through the sea and the army pursuing them did not. Placing it here sets these people, standing beside a sea and holding harps, in the same position. "The Lamb" is the title this book has used for Christ since chapter 5, a lamb that has been killed and yet stands alive. Where the King James has "thou King of saints," the Greek manuscripts disagree: most read "King of the nations," some read "King of the ages," and the line of manuscripts the King James translators used reads "King of the saints," that is, of the holy people.

15:4

"Fear" here does not mean fright. It renders a word for the awe owed to someone of overwhelming rank, the attitude a subject takes toward a king, and it is paired with "glorify thy name," giving public honor. "Thy judgments are made manifest" does not mean sentences have been handed down; the Greek word covers righteous acts and verdicts together, and "made manifest" means brought out into the open where everyone can see them.

15:5

The tabernacle was the portable tent that held the ark before the temple in Jerusalem was built. "The testimony" is the stone tablets of the law kept inside the ark, and "tent of the testimony" is the standard name for the tabernacle in the Greek Old Testament that this book quotes from. So the phrase piles the two sanctuaries together: the temple in heaven is the tent that held the testimony.

15:6

"Girdle" in 1611 English means a belt or sash, and "breasts" means the chest; a sash worn high across the chest rather than at the waist marked out priests and men of high office. The same dress is given to the figure in chapter 1. On the clothing itself the manuscripts differ by one letter in Greek, between "linen" and "stone," so some copies read that the angels were dressed in pure bright stone; the King James follows linen.

15:7

"Beasts" here translates a different Greek word from the "beast" of verse 2. These are the four living creatures around the throne in chapter 4, covered with eyes and never ceasing their praise; the King James uses the one English word for both, which makes them look related when they are not. A "vial" in 1611 was not a narrow tube but a phiale, a broad shallow bowl of the kind used in temple worship to pour out wine or blood at the altar. The shape matters: such a bowl empties completely in a single tip.

15:8

The image comes from the Hebrew scriptures, where a cloud settled on the finished tabernacle and filled the temple at its dedication so densely that the priests could not go in to perform their duties. Here the same thing happens, and the closure lasts for a set stretch of time: while the seven plagues run their course, no one goes in.