Commentary - Revelation 15:1

Bird's-eye view

Revelation 15 serves as a solemn, liturgical prelude to the final and most intense series of judgments in the book, the seven bowls of God's wrath. Before the devastation of chapter 16 is unleashed, John is given a glimpse into the heavenly throne room to show us the ultimate context for what is about to happen. This is not chaos. This is not an emergency. This is the holy and righteous culmination of God's covenant lawsuit against a rebellious world, represented most pointedly by the apostate Jewish authorities of the first century. The chapter shows us two things: the agents of judgment being commissioned (the seven angels) and the beneficiaries of that judgment (the victorious saints) singing praises to God. The wrath of God is not some grim necessity to be embarrassed by; in heaven, it is the very occasion for worship, because it is the means by which God vindicates His people and glorifies His own name.

This chapter is the calm before the storm. It is the deep breath taken by the executioner before the axe falls. The temple of God is filled with smoke, signifying a glory so intense and holy that no one can enter until the judgment is complete. This tells us that God's work of judgment is exclusively His. It is pure, unmixed with human sin or striving, and it will be finished according to His perfect counsel. The song of the saints, who sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, frames this final judgment as a new Exodus, a definitive deliverance of the new covenant people of God from their persecutors.

Outline

Context In Revelation

Revelation 15 directly follows the sweeping visions of chapter 14, which depicted the 144,000 redeemed with the Lamb on Mount Zion, the proclamation of the eternal gospel, the warning of Babylon's fall, and the grim harvest of the earth. Chapter 14 gave us the big picture overview; now, chapters 15 and 16 zoom in on the execution of that final harvest of wrath. This chapter functions as the formal commissioning scene for the seven bowl judgments, just as chapter 8 served as the prelude to the seven trumpets. The seals, trumpets, and bowls represent an intensifying sequence of covenantal judgments. The seals affected a fourth of the earth, the trumpets a third, and the bowls will bring a total, conclusive judgment upon the beast's kingdom. This is the climax of the covenant lawsuit that has been building throughout the entire book against the great harlot city, first-century Jerusalem, which had become a persecutor of the saints.

Key Issues

The Final, Unmixed Wrath

We have come to the third and final series of judgments. It is essential that we understand what is happening here from heaven's point of view. On earth, this is going to look like the world falling apart. But in heaven, it is a perfectly orchestrated liturgical service of judgment. The word John uses for plagues is plēgas, the same word used in the Septuagint for the plagues God brought upon Egypt. The whole scene is drenched in Exodus imagery. The saints stand by a sea of glass, reminiscent of the Red Sea, and sing the song of Moses. This is a new Exodus. God is delivering His new covenant people, the Church, from their great oppressor, which in the context of the first century was apostate Israel, the "great city" that had become Sodom and Egypt (Rev 11:8).

This wrath is described as "finished" or "completed." This is the end of the line for the object of this judgment. The seals and trumpets contained warnings and calls to repentance, but the bowls are pure, unmixed, undiluted judicial punishment. The time for warnings is over. The sentence has been passed, and now it will be carried out with terrifying finality. This is why the saints in heaven are not weeping; they are worshiping. They see the justice, righteousness, and faithfulness of God on full display.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who have seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.

John begins by telling us that what he is about to describe is a sign. The Greek is sēmeion, and we must take him at his word. This is not a literal, photographic snapshot of future events. It is a symbol-laden vision, pregnant with theological meaning, that points to a greater reality. And this sign appears "in heaven," which tells us we are being shown the divine perspective, the view from the command center. We are seeing the cause, not just the earthly effect. What might look like political or military chaos on earth is, from God's point of view, a deliberate and controlled act of judgment.

This sign is described as great and marvelous. This is the language of worship. The works of God, even His works of terrifying judgment, are glorious. To the redeemed, who understand His purposes, the execution of perfect justice is a marvelous thing to behold. It is a demonstration of His holiness and power. We are not meant to be squeamish about the wrath of God; we are meant to be in awe of it.

The content of the sign is seven angels who have seven plagues. Seven, as always in Revelation, is the number of perfection and completeness. This is a full and finished work. The angels "have" these plagues; they are the divinely commissioned stewards of this final outpouring. The plagues themselves, as we will see in chapter 16, are a direct echo of the plagues on Egypt, casting the enemies of God and His church in the role of a new Pharaoh, ripe for destruction.

And these plagues are the last. This is the climax of this particular sequence of judgment. It is the final act of the covenant lawsuit. Why are they the last? Because in them, the wrath of God is finished. The Greek verb here is etelesthe, which carries the sense of being completed or brought to its intended end. It shares the same root as Christ's cry from the cross, tetelestai, "It is finished." On the cross, the wrath of God was finished for His people through propitiation. In these plagues, the wrath of God is finished upon His enemies through retribution. The judgment against the great city, the persecuting Jerusalem of the first century, is now brought to its complete and final conclusion, culminating in the historical events of A.D. 70.

Application

First, this passage forces us to reckon with the holiness and justice of God. Our modern, sentimental age wants a God who is all soft comfort and no hard edges. But the God of the Bible is a consuming fire. His wrath against sin is not a grumpy mood; it is the settled, righteous, and holy opposition of His perfect character to all that is evil. To worship God truly is to worship all that He is, and that includes His justice. Seeing His judgments as "great and marvelous" is a mark of spiritual maturity.

Second, this is a profound comfort to the persecuted church. The saints on earth may feel forgotten, oppressed, and trampled. But this vision pulls back the curtain to show that heaven is not idle. God is preparing the vindication of His people. The very plagues that bring terror to the wicked are the instruments of deliverance for the righteous. Our God is not a passive observer of history; He is the sovereign king who will, in His own time, settle all accounts justly.

Finally, this verse is a stark and terrifying warning to all who are outside of Christ. The wrath of God is not a theoretical concept. It is a coming reality, and when it comes, it is final. There are no second chances after these last plagues. The only place to hide from the wrath of God is in the one place where the wrath of God has already been poured out: the cross of Jesus Christ. He drank the cup of God's wrath so that all who trust in Him would never have to taste it. Therefore, the only sane response to this vision of coming judgment is to flee to Christ for mercy while there is still time.