Revelation 15 is the prelude to the Seven Vials judgments, the last of the twenty one judgments. John begins Revelation 15 by saying that he saw another sign in heaven. This is the sign of seven angels having the seven last plagues. There are three signs in Revelation. Two are in chapter 12, the sign of the Radiant Woman, and the sign of the Red Dragon. The Radiant Woman symbolizes the nation of Israel, and indicates that Israel will have returned to the land of Palestine. The Red Dragon is Satan, and he has seven heads and ten horns. The heads are the seven world empires of history, the last one still to come. The ten horns are the ten kingdoms that the seventh empire will be divided into. In chapter 9 the seventh trumpet sounded, which opens the Seven Vials judgments, the last set of seven of the twenty one judgments of God in the Tribulation. The Seven Vials occurs during the Great Tribulation, which is the last three and a half years of the seven year period. Seven seven seven. One of God's favorite numbers. The vials are bowls that are fairly shallow. Vials were used to offer oblations in the temple. Are the seven plagues the same as the seven vials? I'm not sure. I think so. In verse 7 one of the four beasts gives the seven angels the seven vials, and so it might seem that they already had the seven plagues, therefore there are seven plagues in addition to the seven vials. I doubt it. I think the mention of the seven plagues at the start is to let us know that they will be the ones that will be in charge of the seven vials. In the vials is "filled up the wrath of God." This means that this is the complete total of the wrath of God. It ends with the Seven Vials judgments.
In the second verse, John sees a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those that had gotten the victory over the beast stand on the sea of glass, and have the harps of God. This sea of glass is similar to the crystal sea in the throne room of God described in Revelation 4:6. This is also the verse in which the four beasts are introduced as four heavenly beings before God's throne. By the way, the four beasts, the twenty four elders, and the 144,000 were also described as playing harps. But why is the sea of glass now "mingled with fire"? The people who are victorious over the beast will be martyred, as we saw in Revelation 13:7. "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." Wait. It just said they "had gotten the victory over" the beast. The beast was able to martyr the saints. However, in the great scope of things martyrdom is seen as a victory, a great honor. The fire mingled in the glass represents the fact that they have been tried by persecution.
And what are "the harps of God"? Well, I didn't find a lot of wisdom about this. God loves beautiful music and it's an important part of worship. Music is inspiring. Why exactly? Good question. I've wondered about the mystery of music, and my heart knows, but my mind doesn't. I know the music from the harps of God will be exquisite. Elisha, in 2 Kings 3:15-20, called for harps to be played to help him prophesy.
Those that had gotten the victory over the beast will be singing "the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb." Two songs? It probably means they are the same song. Moses is said to have sung two songs, one in Exodus 15, and one in Deuteronomy 32, a longer one. This is probably the Deuteronomy song which was written to remind coming generations of Israel to remain faithful to God. Included in this song will be the words, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest." Who shall not fear thee means who will fail to honor and reverence God.
At his point, John beheld "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven," and it was opened. This is the heavenly temple upon which the earthly temple was based. The tabernacle means "the tent." "Of the testimony" refers to the fact that the temple housed the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments.
The seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, wearing very white clothing, with golden girdles around their breasts. They are given the seven golden vials from one of the four beasts. The vials contain the Seven Vials judgments. Clearly, these are good angels, and these terrible things are coming from God. Why has God suddenly become so angry at them that dwell on the earth? Because his patience has finally worn out, and this is what happens when God decides to react. God intends to cleanse the earth, and purge it of evil, so that He can bring in the Millennium, the thousand year period in which the curse is partially lifted from the earth.
The temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God, and no one is able to enter until the seven plagues are over. In 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, as Solomon's temple was dedicated to God, the temple is recorded as filling with the cloud of the Lord. The ministers were unable to continue because the glory of the Lord filled the house. I think this is what the smoke is describing.
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