BOWLS FULL OF WRATH

Another strange portent replaces the bloody scene of the last vision in 15:1-8 symbolizing the final denouément of God’s judgment. The sea of glass mingled with fire represents the chaos over which God established authority in creation. There are echoes of the Exodus too in the seven angels with seven plagues (vss. 1 & 3). Also prominent in this new vision are “the Conquerors,” i.e. the Christian martyrs who had died because they refused to worship the statue of the emperor (vs. 2). Their song (vss. 3-5) recalls the vision in ch. 5 when the seals of the great scroll were opened by the Lamb.

The final words of the martyrs’ song, “for your judgments have been revealed” (or alternately, “the justice of your decrees stands revealed”) signify that the death of the innocent martyrs bears persuasive witness to the redeeming love of God in Christ. In this respect Prof. George Caird noted that in Romans 3:26 Paul wrote that by implementing this decree God has proved to the world that God is “both just and justifier of anyone who puts his faith in Jesus.” For John, the martyrdom his friends suffered would bring a world-wide turning to God.

Vss. 5-8 recalls the scene in the desert where God instructed Moses to build an elaborate Tent of Testimony (Exodus 25-30 cf. Heb. 8:5) in which was to be placed the tablets of stone bearing the terms of the Covenant. The robes of the angels (vs. 6) invoke the priestly robes to be worn by Aaron and his sons (Exod. 28). In that story and at the dedication of Solomon’s temple (Exod. 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10), the priests could not enter the shrine because it was filled with the cloud of the glory of God. Here no one could enter the shrine until God’s judgment was accomplished.