The Song of Victorious Worship Text: Revelation 15:2-4
Introduction: Heavenly Worship and Earthly Consequences
When we come to the book of Revelation, many modern Christians get tangled up in charts, timelines, and newspaper headlines. They treat it like a cryptic puzzle about the future that has very little to do with their lives right now. But this is a profound mistake. The book of Revelation is, first and foremost, a book about worship. It pulls back the curtain of history to show us what is really going on. And what is really going on is that the worship of God in heaven is the engine that drives history on earth. The prayers of the saints, mingled with the incense at the golden altar, are what cause the judgments of God to fall upon the earth. What happens in the throne room of God determines what happens in the parliaments and palaces of men.
In this passage, we are given a glimpse into that heavenly worship service at a pivotal moment. The seven angels with the seven last plagues are about to be sent forth. These are the final, decisive judgments that will dismantle the apostate Jewish system, centered in Jerusalem, which had become a persecuting beast. As I have maintained throughout our study of this book, Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and it is largely about that cataclysmic event. That event was the vindication of Jesus Christ and the definitive establishment of His kingdom. It was the great divorce, where God formally put away His unfaithful wife, Israel, and fully established the Gentile bride, the Church.
But before the bowls of wrath are poured out, we see a scene of triumphant worship. We see the saints who have already passed through the great tribulation of that era, the Neronian persecution, and they are standing victorious. Their song is not a lament. It is not a plea for deliverance. It is a declaration of victory already won. This is crucial for us to grasp. Heavenly worship is not an escape from the battle; it is the celebration of a battle that has already been decided. And because it has been decided in heaven, its outworking on earth is therefore inevitable.
The Text
Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who have overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “GREAT AND MARVELOUS ARE YOUR WORKS, O LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY; RIGHTEOUS AND TRUE ARE YOUR WAYS, KING OF THE NATIONS! WHO WILL NOT FEAR, O LORD, AND GLORIFY YOUR NAME? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”
(Revelation 15:2-4 LSB)
Victory on the Sea of Glass (v. 2)
We begin with the setting for this worship.
"Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who have overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God." (Revelation 15:2)
John sees a "sea of glass mixed with fire." Back in chapter 4, we saw this sea of glass before the throne, clear as crystal. It speaks of the serene holiness and transcendent purity of God. It is like the bronze laver in the Tabernacle, a place of cleansing and purification. But now, this sea is "mixed with fire." Fire in Scripture is consistently a symbol of judgment and purification. This is not a contradiction. The same holiness of God that is a peaceful sea to His people is a consuming fire to His enemies. The same divine character produces both outcomes. God's holiness is a comfort to the righteous and a terror to the wicked.
And who is standing on this sea? "Those who have overcome the beast." This is a direct reference to the faithful saints who resisted the idolatrous demands of the Roman state, personified by the Emperor Nero, the beast of that time. They refused to receive his mark, which was a symbolic way of saying they refused to confess "Caesar is Lord." They refused to participate in the emperor cult, the state-mandated worship that was the ultimate test of loyalty. For this refusal, many of them paid with their lives. From an earthly perspective, they were defeated. They were crushed by the overwhelming power of Rome. But from heaven's perspective, they are the victors. They are the ones who have "overcome."
How did they overcome? The same way we overcome: "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Rev. 12:11). True victory is not avoiding suffering; it is faithfulness through suffering. They stand on the sea of glass, meaning they have been purified and vindicated by the fiery holiness of God. They hold "harps of God," instruments of pure worship. Their earthly struggle has been transformed into heavenly music. This is a profound encouragement. Our faithful struggles on earth, our small acts of resistance against the beasts of our own day, are not forgotten. They are being woven into the symphony of heaven.
The Song of Redemption History (v. 3)
Now we come to the content of their worship.
"And they sang the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb..." (Revelation 15:3a)
It is one song, but it has two names: the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. This is not two separate songs, but one unified anthem of redemption. Why both names? Because God's redemptive work is a single, unfolding story. The song of Moses was first sung on the shores of the Red Sea after God had delivered Israel by drowning the Egyptian army (Exodus 15). It was a song of victory over a pagan tyrant, a song of judgment and salvation. By singing this song here, these saints are identifying the persecuting power they faced, which was apostate Jerusalem in league with Rome, as the new Egypt. Just as God judged Pharaoh, He is now about to judge the Jerusalem that crucified His Son. The first exodus is the pattern for the final exodus.
But it is also the song of the Lamb. The exodus under Moses was accomplished through the blood of the passover lamb. This ultimate exodus is accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All of God's works of salvation find their center and their meaning in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Moses was the servant; the Lamb is the Son. The first deliverance was a type; this one is the reality. By joining these two names, the saints are declaring that the whole Bible is one story, from Genesis to Revelation, and it is all about the triumphant grace of God in Christ.
The lyrics of the song follow:
"...saying, 'GREAT AND MARVELOUS ARE YOUR WORKS, O LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY; RIGHTEOUS AND TRUE ARE YOUR WAYS, KING OF THE NATIONS!'" (Revelation 15:3b)
Their song begins with adoration for God's works and His ways. His "works" are His mighty acts of creation and redemption. They are "great and marvelous." His "ways" are His moral government of the universe. They are "righteous and true." This is a comprehensive declaration of God's character. He is not just powerful (the Almighty); He is also good. He is not just the king of Israel; He is the "King of the nations." This title is a direct challenge to the claims of Caesar. The nations do not belong to Rome; they belong to God. And His reign is not based on brute force, but on righteousness and truth. This is the foundation of all Christian political theology. We declare to the tinpot dictators and the arrogant bureaucracies of our day that there is a higher King, and His law is righteous and true.
The Inevitable Triumph of the Gospel (v. 4)
The song concludes with a rhetorical question and a confident prophecy.
"WHO WILL NOT FEAR, O LORD, AND GLORIFY YOUR NAME? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED." (Revelation 15:4)
The question, "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?" expects the answer: No one. Ultimately, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it is the end of all rebellion. This is not the cowering fear of a slave before a tyrant, but the awe-filled reverence of a creature before his holy Creator. To fear God is to be liberated from the fear of man. When you fear God properly, everything else falls into its proper perspective. The threats of the beast, the ridicule of the culture, the power of the state, all of it becomes small and manageable in the light of the holy fear of God.
The reason for this universal worship is twofold. First, "For You alone are holy." God's holiness is His uniqueness, His absolute "otherness." He is not just a bigger, better version of us. He is in a category all by Himself. All human righteousness is derived and flawed; His is original and perfect. This is why all idolatry is fundamentally insane. It is trading the glory of the unique, holy Creator for a cheap imitation.
Second, the prophecy: "For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU." This is the great promise of the gospel. This is the engine of postmillennial optimism. This is not wishful thinking; it is a declaration from the throne room of heaven. The Great Commission will be successful. Jesus did not die to make the salvation of the nations a possibility; He died to make it an actuality. The song is not "some from every nation might come," but "all the nations will come." This means that history is headed toward the global worship of Jesus Christ. The gospel will triumph, cultures will be discipled, and the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
And what is the catalyst for this global conversion? "FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED." God's judgments are a form of evangelism. When God judged Egypt, Rahab heard about it in Jericho and was converted. When God judged apostate Jerusalem in A.D. 70, it was a thunderous declaration to the whole world that Jesus, not Caesar and not Caiaphas, was the true Lord. The destruction of the Temple was the vindication of Christ's prophecy and the liberation of the gospel from its Jewish swaddling clothes to go out and conquer the world. God's judgments reveal His character, they demonstrate His power, and they call the nations to repentance and faith. Our task is to proclaim these righteous acts, to tell the story of what God has done in Christ, and to call all men everywhere to bow down and worship the King of the nations.