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TO GOD BE THE GLORY (REVELATION 15)
BBC has a concise report on the history of plagues:
In the 6th century, the plague of Justinian killed as many as 50 million people, perhaps half the global population at the time.
In the 14th century, the Black Death may have killed up to 200 million people.
The 1918 influenza pandemic killed 50 to 100 million people. The virus infected one in every three people on the planet at the time.
Smallpox may have killed as many as 300 million people in the 20th Century.
HIV has killed an estimated 32 million people and infected 75 million.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200325-covid-19-the-history-of-pandemics
As we move to Revelation 15, we are reminded of the first 11 chapters on the devastation on earth, followed by the war in heaven in chapter 12 and the havoc of the beast in chapter 13, but the Lamb’s outright victory in the rest of the book.
What does it mean to live for God and look to Him no matter the circumstances? How can we be faithful and fruitful no matter the time? Why is God always the leading player and not the supporting actor in history?
Be the Voice of Victory
1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues — last, because with them God's wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God
On February 4, 2022, 7:57 a.m. my neighbor sent me a newspaper link with the following headlines: “Ma Wan tested positive for sewage results, so all residents must undergo mandatory testing!
I asked my neighbor, “When are you going?” He replied, “Around 10 a.m,” which was two hours later. I questioned, “Where are we to go?” He answered, “At the 11th block by the beachfront. How about you? Do you have to work?” I Said, “No. Ok, wait lobby for me.” He texted, “Ok, wait 10 am downstairs.” I asked, “By the way, when did you know about the testing? He said, “Last night.”
As I went downstairs five minutes before 10 a.m., I questioned the lobby reception, “How come nobody notified me about today’s testing? The person said, “I just came in, I was not on duty last night!”
We lined up with his wife and two boys for slightly more than two hours, but at least we talked non-stop!
Three months later, I received a second notice that a resident in our housing block alone was infected, and I took it within ten minutes a day’s work.
Revelation 15 is quite a shock to speakers because we’re down to 8 verses, the shortest chapter so far in the book, in contrast to a long 29 verses in chapter 2. There are more “plagues” (plege) in this chapter than any chapter in the Bible, with the adjective “seven” quantifying the plagues each time (vv 1, 6, 8). A plague is transmittable, treacherous and toxic. It could be water, waste or wastewater. No medicine or mask, vaccine or ventilator, physician or protection can help.
The seven angels appeared in chapter 10 when the seventh seal was opened (Rev 10:1-2), disappeared for six chapters to reappear in chapter 15, this time with seven plagues for the fullness, finality and fury of it! The recurrence of “seven” for seven angels, seven last plagues (v1) and seven golden bowls (v 7) means the plagues’ enormity, entirety and extremity.
What constitutes plagues? Up to now, locusts (Rev 9:3), fire, smoke, and brimstone (Rev 9:18-20), and even bodily wounds (Rev 13:3). Modern day plagues range from birds to bees, pestilence to pandemics, from fire to floods, and from livestock to laboratories. The plagues did not quite fully portray God’s wrath, but it was forceful and furious enough.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines wrath (v 1) as “strong vengeful anger or indignation; retributory punishment for an offense or a crime: divine chastisement.” It is not pleasant, peaceful or pretty, but passionate, punitive and permanent, and yet preventable because God wants us to repent. The wrath of God is His displeasure, disapproval and dismay at sin. There is no calming, computing it or cancelling the fury. It is anger exploded, erupted, expanded and extended.
God’s wrath is directed at the unbelieving, the unrepentant and the unsaved. While the phrase “the wrath of God” occurred in the previous chapter (Rev 14:10), the two verbs that described the wrath of God is “completed” (v 1) and “filled” (v 7). Completed (v 1) refers to the timeline and “fill” is the waterline.
Be the Vantage of Vision
3 and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. 4 Who will not fear you, O 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."
Vernon Grounds tells of an incident that happened while he was in seminary. Since the school had no gymnasium, he and his friends played basketball in a nearby public school.
Nearby, an elderly janitor waited patiently until the seminarians finished playing. Invariably he sat there reading his Bible. One day Ground’s friend asked him what he was reading.
The man answered, ‘The book of Revelation.’ Surprised, my friend asked if he understood it. ‘Oh, yes,’ the man assured him. `I understand it.’ ‘What does it mean?’ Quietly the janitor answered, It means that Jesus is gonna win.’”
Grounds concludes, “That’s the best commentary I have ever heard on that book. Jesus is going to win. That’s the biblical mindset.” (Source unknown).
The verb “sing” or “aido” in Greek and the noun “song” or “oide” in Greek (Rev 5:9, 14:3, 15:3) occur more times in the book of Revelation than all the books put together in the Bible. This is the third singing session in Revelation – the first by the four beasts and 24 elders (Rev 5:8-9), the second by 144,000 Jewish singers (14:1-3), and presently the third by the victorious saints (15:1). Unlike the previous songs that were sung before in chapter 5 (Rev 5:9) and chapter 14 (Rev 14:3), which were described as new songs, the song in this chapter 15 is as old as Moses.
There are five distinctives to the song. First, let us examine in the song the names of God. The Lamb describes to His “meekness” as the Lamb slain, the Lord God Almighty denotes His “might” as the supreme, and the King of the Ages 0r “saints” in KJV discusses His “majesty” as sovereign.
Second, there are three personal pronoun in the song - “your” - in the text – your deeds/works, your ways and your name/judgments. Deeds are “works” in KJV, and name/judgments in KJV or His wisdom in action.
Third, the song has three reasons - “for” (hoti) in Greek (v 4). Holy refers to His righteousness, worship to His reverence and revealed His revelation.
Name Deeds Reason
The Lamb = Meekness
your deeds v 3 = Your works, KJV For you alone are holy v 4 = righteous
Lord God Almighty = Might your ways v 3 = Your ways (for) All nations will come
and worship (future tense) before you v 4 = reverential
King of the Ages (saints, KJV) = Majesty your name/judgments v 4 = Your wisdom for your righteous acts have been revealed (aorist tense) v 4 = revelation
Fourth is the four adjectives in the song – great, marvelous, just and true. Great means He is distinguished, superior and formidable; marvelous means He is delightful, splendid and fantastic; just means He is decisive, single-minded and faultless; and true means He is dependable, steadfast and faithful.
Great Marvelous Just True
Distinguished Delightful Decisive Dependable
Superior Splendid Single-minded Steadfast
Formidable Fantastic Faultless Faithful
The last section refers to verbs, of which the three verbs are as follows: “fear” means awe, amazement and astonishment; “glorify” means our attribution, ascription and acknowledgment to Him; and “worship” means our adoration, admiration and allegiance.
Fear Glorify Worship
Awe
Amazement
Astonishment Attribution
Ascription
Acknowledgement Adoration
Admiration
Allegiance
God is always good, great and glorious in Himself, but He wants us to seek Him, serve Him and show Him in our lives.
Be the Vanguard of Vigilance
5 After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
How do we describe God’s glory? Here are some quotes:
“God's glory is so powerful that you can't even see the sun, like we can't see the stars during the day because of the sun.”
“God's glory is so powerful that it is only from behind a veil that creatures can behold His presence at all.”
“God's glory is so powerful that no other light source is needed.”
“God's glory is so vast that no single chapter, no single book, and no grandest canyon could ever contain all that He is.”
“God's glory is so exalted that it extends beyond all limits, even above the highest heavens.”
“God's glory is so immense that we have a lifetime of adventure before us as we learn and experience more and more of God's glory.”
“God's glory is so grand that no less a stage than the universe—all that is or was and will be, across space and through time—is necessary for the unfolding of this all-encompassing drama.” (James Hamilton, Jr.”
The noun “temple” (naos) occurs 16 times in the book of Revelation, more times than any book in the Bible. It is where we have our assembly, appointment and acquaintance with God.
The glory of God (v 8, And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power) emits smoke, with a stratospheric, sanitizing and sanctifying effect. “Filled” means to be bursting - blanketed, blurred and blinded. No corner, crack and cranny left untouched, unclaimed or uninhabited.
The most important is not the outside, but the inside; not the smoke but the substance: the glory of God. The subject on “the glory of God” is covered the most in Revelation (Ren 11:13, 15:8, 21:11, 23), Romans (3:23, 52, 15:7) and 2 Corinthians (1:20, 4:6, 15). What is the glory of God? The glory of God is the being and the best, the brightness and the beauty, the benevolence and the benediction of God, whether it is visible or not, veiled or not, voiced or not, venerated or not. It is more than having an exotic, ecstatic and emotional experience. It has an earthly, everlasting and energizing effect. It is cause for silence, stoppage and standstill.
The best definition of the glory of God I can find is from John Wesley, who said, ““The glory of God, strictly speaking, is his glorious essence and his attributes, which have been ever of old. And this glory admits of no increase, being the same yesterday, today, and forever. But the Scripture frequently speaks of the glory of God, in a sense something different from this; meaning thereby, the manifestation of his essential glory, of his eternal power and godhead, and of his glorious attributes, more especially his justice, mercy, and truth.”
What’s the difference between power and glory? Here are some comments:
As nouns the difference between power and glory is that power is (social) effectiveness while glory is great beauty or splendor, that is so overwhelming it is considered powerful. As verbs the difference between power and glory is that power is to provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device) while glory is to exult with joy; to rejoice.” (wikidiff.com)
The glory is greater than the power because the glory includes, not only the power of God but, the grace and righteousness of God. The glory of God, actually, is the term that encapsulates all of His splendor and His righteousness. (nairaland.com)
In the power realm, there is the energy of man that is working with the help of God; but in the glory realm, God is working and man is watching. (dunamisgospel.org)
Someone can misuse the power of God, but you can never misuse the glory of God.” (teevotogo.org)
God’s power is more than just power; it is autonomous, absolute and all-powerful or almighty.
Glory Power
His Presence His Power
Attribute Ability
Identity Influence
Innate Output
His essence His execution
Conclusion: The Old Testament temple was about measurement, material and ministry, but God’s temple in heaven is about His majesty, magnificence and might. The glitter of the man-made metaverse today is no competition to God’s glory in the , the multiple universes or “the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them.” (Wikipedia) Let all creation, countries, citizens, and their conduct, conversations and commitment be given to and governed by the King of Glory (Ps 24:8), Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8) and the Father of glory (Eph 1:17).
