1. the seven last plagues--Greek, "seven plagues which are
the last."
is filled up--literally, "was finished," or
"consummated": the prophetical past for the future, the future being
to God as though it were past, so sure of accomplishment is His word. This verse
is the summary of the vision that follows: the angels do not actually receive
the vials till Revelation
15:7; but here, in Revelation
15:1, by anticipation they are spoken of as having them. There are no
more plagues after these until the Lord's coming in judgment. The destruction of
Babylon (Revelation
18:2) is the last: then in Revelation
19:11-16 He appears.
2. sea of glass--Answering to the molten sea or great brazen laver
before the mercy seat of the earthly temple, for the purification of the
priests; typifying the baptism of water and the Spirit of all who are made kings
and priests unto God.
mingled with fire--answering to the baptism on earth with fire,
that is, fiery trial, as well as with the Holy Ghost, which Christ's people
undergo to purify them, as gold is purified of its dross in the furnace.
them that had gotten the victory over--Greek, "those (coming)
off from (the conflict with) the beast-conquerors."
over the number of his name--A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic
omit the words in English Version, "over his mark." The
mark, in fact, is the number of his name which the faithful refused
to receive, and so were victorious over it.
stand on the sea of glass--ALFORD and DE BURGH explain "on (the
shore of) the sea": at the sea. So the preposition, Greek,
"epi," with the accusative case, is used for at, Revelation
3:20. It has a pregnant sense: "standing" implies rest, Greek
"epi" with the accusative case implies motion
"towards." Thus the meaning is, Having come TO the sea, and now standing
AT it. In Matthew
14:26, where Christ walks on the sea, the Greek oldest
manuscripts have the genitive, not the accusative as here. Allusion is made to
the Israelites standing on the shore at the Red Sea, after having passed
victoriously through it, and after the Lord had destroyed the Egyptian foe (type
of Antichrist) in it. Moses and the Israelites' song of triumph (Exodus
15:1) has its antitype in the saints' "song of Moses and the Lamb"
(Revelation
15:3). Still English Version is consistent with good Greek,
and the sense will then be: As the sea typifies the troubled state out of which
the beast arose, and which is to be no more in the blessed world to come (Revelation
21:1), so the victorious saints stand on it, having it under their feet
(as the woman had the wherein the feet sink, but solid like glass, as it
was under the feet of Christ, whose triumph and power the saints now share.
Firmness of footing amidst apparent instability is thus represented. They can
stand, not merely as victorious Israel at the Red Sea, and as John upon
the sand of the shore, but upon the sea itself, now firm, and reflecting
their glory as glass, their past conflict shedding the brighter luster on their
present triumph. Their happiness is heightened by the retrospect of the dangers
through which they have passed. Thus this corresponds to Revelation
7:14,15.
harps of God--in the hands of these heavenly virgins, infinitely
surpassing the timbrels of Miriam and the Israelitesses.
3. song of Moses . . . and . . . the Lamb--The New
Testament song of the Lamb (that is, the song which the Lamb shall lead, as
being "the Captain of our salvation," just as Moses was leader of the
Israelites, the song in which those who conquer through Him [Romans
8:37] shall join, Revelation
12:11) is the antitype to the triumphant Old Testament song of Moses and the
Israelites at the Red Sea (Exodus
15:1-21). The Churches of the Old and New Testament are essentially one in
their conflicts and triumphs. The two appear joined in this phrase, as they are
in the twenty-four elders. Similarly, Isaiah
12:1-6 foretells the song of the redeemed (Israel foremost) after the second
antitypical exodus and deliverance at the Egyptian Sea. The passage
through the Red Sea under the pillar of cloud was Israel's baptism, to which the
believer's baptism in trials corresponds. The elect after their trials
(especially those arising from the beast) shall be taken up before the vials of
wrath be poured on the beast and his kingdom. So Noah and his family were taken
out of the doomed world before the deluge; Lot was taken out of Sodom before its
destruction; the Christians escaped by a special interposition of Providence to
Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem. As the pillar of cloud and fire
interposed between Israel and the Egyptian foe, so that Israel was safely landed
on the opposite shore before the Egyptians were destroyed; so the Lord, coming
with clouds and in flaming fire, shall first catch up His elect
people "in the clouds to meet Him in the air," and then shall with
fire destroy the enemy. The Lamb leads the song in honor of the Father amidst
the great congregation. This is the "new song" mentioned in Revelation
14:3. The singing victors are the 144,000 of Israel, "the
first-fruits," and the general "harvest" of the Gentiles.
servant of God--(Exodus
14:31, Numbers
12:7, Joshua
22:5). The Lamb is more: He is the SON.
Great and marvellous are thy works, &c.--part of Moses' last
song (Deuteronomy
32:3,4). The vindication of the justice of God that so He may be glorified
is the grand end of God's dealings. Hence His servants again and again dwell
upon this in their praises (Revelation
16:7, 19:2,
Proverbs
16:4, Jeremiah
10:10, Daniel
4:37). Especially at the judgment (Psalms
50:1-6, 145:17).
saints--There is no manuscript authority for this. A, B, Coptic,
and CYPRIAN read, "of the NATIONS." C reads "of the ages,"
and so Vulgate and Syriac. The point at issue in the Lord's
controversy with the earth is, whether He, or Satan's minion, the beast, is
"the King of the nations"; here at the eve of the judgments descending
on the kingdom of the beast, the transfigured saints hail Him as "the King
of the nations" (Ezekiel
21:27).
4. Who shall not--Greek, "Who is there but must fear
Thee?" Compare Moses' song, Exodus
15:14-16, on the fear which God's judgments strike into the foe.
thee--so Syriac. But A, B, C, Vulgate, and CYPRIAN reject
"thee."
all nations shall come--alluding to Psalms
22:27-31; compare Isaiah
66:23, Jeremiah
16:19. The conversion of all nations, therefore, shall be when Christ
shall come, and not till then; and the first moving. cause will be Christ's manifested
judgments preparing all hearts for receiving Christ's mercy. He shall effect
by His presence what we have in vain tried to effect in His absence. The present
preaching of the Gospel is gathering out the elect remnant; meanwhile "the
mystery of iniquity" is at work, and will at last come to its crisis; then
shall judgment descend on the apostates at the harvest-end of this age (Greek,
Matthew
13:39,40) when the tares shall be cleared out of the earth, which
thenceforward becomes Messiah's kingdom. The confederacy of 'the apostates
against Christ becomes, when overthrown with fearful judgments, the very means
in God's overruling providence of preparing the nations not joined in the
Antichristian league to submit themselves to Him.
judgments--Greek, "righteousnesses."
are--literally, "were": the prophetical past for the immediate
future.
5. So Revelation
11:19; compare Revelation
16:17. "The tabernacle of the testimony" appropriately here comes
to view, where God's faithfulness in avenging His people with judgments on their
foes is about to be set forth. We need to get a glimpse within the Holy place to
"understand" the secret spring and the end of God's righteous
dealings.
behold--omitted by A, B, C, Syriac, and ANDREAS. It is supported
only by Vulgate, Coptic, and PRIMASIUS, but no manuscript.
6. having--So B reads. But A and C, read "who have": not
that they had them yet (compare Revelation
15:7), but they are by anticipation described according to their office.
linen--So B reads. But A, C, and Vulgate, "a stone." On
the principle that the harder reading is the one least likely to be an
interpolation, we should read, "a stone pure ('and' is omitted in A, B, C,
and ANDREAS), brilliant" (so the Greek): probably the diamond. With English
Version, compare Acts
1:10, 10:30.
golden girdles--resembling the Lord in this respect (Revelation
1:13).
7. one of the four beasts--Greek, "living creatures."
The presentation of the vials to the angels by one of the living creatures
implies the ministry of the Church as the medium for manifesting to angels the
glories of redemption (Ephesians
3:10).
vials--"bowls"; a broad shallow cup or bowl. The breadth of the
vials in their upper part would tend to cause their contents to pour out all
at once, implying the overwhelming suddenness of the woes.
full of . . . wrath--How sweetly do the vials full of odors,
that is, the incense-perfumed prayers of the saints, contrast with these!
8. temple . . . filled--(Isaiah
6:4); compare Exodus
40:34, 2 Chronicles
5:14, as to the earthly temple, of which this is the antitype.
the glory of God and . . . power--then fully manifested.
no man was able to enter . . . the temple--because of God's
presence in His manifested glory and power during the execution of these
judgments.
