Lesson 33: Seven Angels and Seven Plagues

Revelation 15:1-8
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!
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 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.


Once again we see a moment of waiting in Heaven, as if Jesus is giving the people of the earth one last opportunity to repent of their evil before this final judgment comes. We see in these verses that those who have been murdered for their trust in Jesus in the previous parts of this time of Tribulation are standing beside a sea of glass with harps in their hands. We can understand that these people who were murdered have a special interest in the judgment-which-brings-justice that is about to begin. However, these people are not rejoicing in what is about to happen to those who killed them! They are instead praising God for His righteousness and justice!

Please also note, in verse 2, that God’s definition of “conquering” is different from ours. We think of conquering someone as putting them down and perhaps raising a fist in the air to show our superiority. Here, those who “conquered” were those who had been killed by the beast and its image (probably a robot-version of the man). How does being killed by someone make us a conqueror over the one who killed us? Verses such as Psalm 56:11 and 118:6 tell us that the worst a person can do to us is kill our body resulting in our immediate presence with Jesus in eternity! Philippians 1:21 says that our life here is for Jesus, and death (separation from this life) is gain for us. These martyrs are the conquerors because they now live forever with Jesus!

*Which life is more important to you – this earthly life or eternal life with Jesus?