Revelation 15:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God

NASB: And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.

CSB: I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.

NLT: I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them.

KJV: And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

NKJV: And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.

John looked at what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire. Revelation 4:6 identifies a sea of glass lying before God's throne. In Old Testament times priests washed in a bronze basin before offering sacrifices. However, there is no need of cleansing or sacrificing in heaven, so a sea of glass appears before God's throne.

The fire in the sea of glass may represent divine judgment that is about to fall on the wicked when the seven angels release the seven plagues mentioned in verse 1. The crowd seen standing before the sea of glass may be martyrs, or they may be survivors of the tribulation. This statement is contained in the part of Revelation which is not in any exact chronological order. Regardless, these crowd members are victors. They refused to worship the beast or his image. And they refused to receive the mark of the beast having his number: 666. This group of victors hold harps, indicating they are ready to celebrate.

Revelation 15:1–4 focuses on seven angels with seven plagues that conclude the outpouring of God's wrath on the wicked. The event causes the victors over the beast, his image, and number to celebrate. They play harps and sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. These are songs of redemption, parallel to those seen in Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32. Their song of the Lamb praises the Lord for His character and deeds and anticipates the time all nations will worship Him.

This chapter reports that the apostle John saw an amazing sight in heaven. First, he saw seven angels having seven plagues, which he said are the last plagues to occur to finish God's wrath. Next, he saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire. Those who had conquered the beast, its image, and its ''666'' number were standing in front of the sea of glass, and they were holding harps. They sang the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. They addressed God as the Lord God Almighty and the King of the nations. Finally, John saw the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven open. The seven angels with the seven plagues emerged from the sanctuary. They were clothed in pure bright linen with golden sashes around their chests. He saw one of the four living creatures give each of the seven angels a bowl full of the eternal wrath of God. Then smoke from God's glory and power filled the sanctuary. No one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues were finished.

Revelation 15 falls between the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments. Like the events described in chapter 14, the events given in chapter 15 do not occur in chronological order. Like the opened seals and the trumpets, the judgments introduced in this chapter number seven. They are said to be the final judgments. They involve terminal judgments on the empire of the beast from the sea and the beast from the land (Revelation 13).

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''