November 13, 2020
Great and Marvelous
Revelation 15
Isela Brown
Central Truth
Although the people of the Lord are in the eye of the storm preparing for God's final wrath to commence, they do not fear, but rather rejoice in the sovereignty and holiness that God is in control, one step closer to the fulfillment of His divine plan.
Key Verse | Revelation 15:3-4
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!
Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."
Revelation 15
The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
1 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.
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 beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 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!
1
15:3
Some manuscripts the ages
4
Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent 2 15:5 Or tabernacle of witness in heaven was opened, 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. 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, 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.
Dive Deeper | Revelation 15
As you can see, there has been a pattern of escalation in the severity of events during the Tribulation. A quarter of the population had been affected when the seals were broken and another third during the sounding of the trumpets. Meanwhile, the rest of mankind, who were not killed by the plagues, still did not repent of the work of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols (Revelation 9:20).
Many had witnessed the peaks and valleys of the consummation of God's kingdom: the Rapture of God's chosen (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), a false prophet, famine, plagues, and unprecedented global catastrophes. They also attested to the selection and sealing of the 144,000 under God's hedge of protection, worldwide preaching by the Two Witnesses along with persecution and martyrdom. Yes, the people of God had gone through a lot. They triumphantly declined the mark of the beast and adamantly refused to worship him as king. After all this, do they curse God for what has happened? Abandon their faith? Throw in the towel? No, they sing a song of God's servant Moses to the Lamb.
"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Revelation 15:3-4, NIV)
The faithful remnant seen here in Revelation 15 have been in the eye of the storm and are now in heaven, awaiting the last of the seven plagues. However, they do not fear the completion of God's final wrath, for they know with irrefutable confidence that none of this is a tumultuous upheaval of happenstance but the sovereign control of God's hand. They called 911, Psalm 91:1 to be exact: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." Trusting in the Lord, who saved them from the deadly pestilence, they did not fear the terror of the night.
Therefore, dear friends, you have been forewarned; be on your guard so that you may not be carried away, regardless of the challenges this world throws at you.
Discussion Questions
1. Let's not wait till we are smack dab in the middle of Revelation during God's wrath to praise Him and say that His ways are just and true. Take a moment and pray to the Lord to reveal the area(s) in your life in which you are struggling to acknowledge that His ways are just and true. Take this opportunity to share and pray with your community group and loved ones so that you can lay these areas of your life at His feet.
2. The song in Revelation 15 seems to have a correlation to the song in Deuteronomy 32 with a running theme of God's faithfulness and the proclamation of His name. Take some time today to share your testimony with others; this is a great way to proclaim God's faithfulness in your life and how you were chosen to a part of His story.
3. The Book of Revelation also goes by the name "Blessing Book." Revelation 1:3 says, "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near." Those who do not know this may feel the final book of the Bible is daunting. Take a moment to think about whom you are sharing the gospel with. Is there someone in your life (work, school, family) that desperately needs to hear that there is a blessing when you put your faith in the One whom God sent?