Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #2 of Revelation, chapter 15, and we will be reading Revelation 15:1-2:
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 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.
I will stop reading there. We saw last time that this “sign” in heaven is following the sign that was given back in Revelation, chapter 12, of a woman clothed with the sun that brought forth the man child. That woman was a representation of God’s elect and, likewise, the seven messengers having the seven last plagues are also a representation of God’s elect. There is no question about that. We will see, as we go on, that this teaching that the seven messengers represent all of God’s elect will be proven by information God gives us in this chapter and we will get to that when we get to it.
But now we are going to continue to look at the last part of Revelation 15:1:
… seven angels having the seven last plagues…
We saw that the word “last” is a word that identifies with “last things,” and these are the final plagues that God has in store for the world. There will be no more plagues – this is the final judgment of God upon sinners for their sin. The second part of verse 1 verifies that when it says at the end of Revelation 15:1:
… for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
The Greek word translated as “filled up” is Strong’s #5055, “teleo,” and it is a word that is used in some very interesting places in the Bible. First of all, it is used in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ and His period of ministry and going to the cross. We read in Luke 18:31:
Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
The Greek word “teleo” is translated as “accomplished” in this verse: “And all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.” In other words, all things will be filled up or accomplished and that is exactly what happened. We also see the word “teleo” used of the Lord going to the cross, in John 19:28-30:
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
The word “accomplished” in verse 28 and the word “finished” in verse 30 are translated from the word “teleo,” the same word that was translated as “filled up” in Revelation 15:1. Christ is saying that it is “accomplished.” All things written concerning the Son of man (which God moved the prophets to write) are accomplished and finished. That is what the Lord meant when He said, “It is finished.” It is done. It is filled up. The demonstration of what He had done from the foundation of the world was fulfilled. It was “filled up” to the point of completing all Scripture and all the things the Bible had declared would happen concerning the “Son of man.” Notice it does not say “the Son of God.” The demonstration at the cross concerned the “Son of man.” At Christ’s birth (“unto us a Son is given”), He entered into the world as the Son of man. And as the Son of man, He must go to the cross and He must fulfill all things that were written concerning the demonstration of what He had done.
Let us look at one more verse concerning the cross, in Acts 13:27-29:
For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
The word “fulfilled” in verse 29 is our word “teleo.” God wrote, in Psalm 22, the very words that Jesus would speak on the cross: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” God wrote of those that would come against Christ and there are many Scriptures that said He would be nailed to a tree, and so forth, and all these things that were written were fulfilled when they took the Lord by wicked hands and with evil intent brought him to the high priest and the authorities in Israel and turned Him over to the Romans to be crucified. They intended it for evil, but God used it to fulfill all the things written concerning the Son of man.
And that is how this word “telio” is used. It is used in the sense of “completion” of all the things written of Him. When we looked at Luke 18:31, it said that “all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.” They are accomplished or completed and when Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” it was completed and it carries the same idea that once the things God had prophesied through His prophets were fulfilled, there is a sense of completion.
Now in Revelation, chapter 11, this word “teleo” is used concerning the “two witnesses.” It says in Revelation 11:7:
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
They shall have “finished their testimony.” The “two witnesses” are the Word of God, as the Bible was in the congregations and the people of God were the caretakers of that Word. The “two witnesses” had a task to perform through the churches. God’s Word had to bring in the “firstfruits” and save them, but once the last of the “firstfruits” became saved, the church age ended the day before Pentecost on May 21, 1988. The witness or testimony of the “two witnesses” (the Word of God within the congregations) was finished; it was accomplished; it was filled up and completed. That would be it and there would be no further witness by God’s Word through the churches and congregations of the world. That is why the church age ended and no one has become saved since then anywhere in the congregations of the world.
Let us look at one more place where this word “teleo” is used and this verse speaks of Satan and what the Lord Jesus did to him at the cross. It says in Revelation 20:3:
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Here is the word “fulfilled,” again, which is “teleo.” Satan is bound and the number “thousand” points to the completeness of his binding, which turned out to be an actual 1,955 years. This relates very much to the verse we just read in Revelation 11:7, where the “two witnesses” finished their testimony. It coincided with Satan’s thousand-year binding being completed and then Satan was loosed, as it says in Revelation 20:7: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,” and that word “expired” is our word “teleo.” It was simultaneous with the death of the “two witnesses,” in Revelation 11, and Satan overcame the churches and congregations because God was using him as an instrument of judgment against them.
So, this is the word “teleo” that we find in our verse, in Revelation 15:1, concerning the seven last plagues, “for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” It is finished. Once the seven vials full of the seven last plagues are poured out, then the wrath of God is finished. It is accomplished. It is completed. This is the idea behind the word “teleo,” and I am sure that you can see this, as I can, in the “10,000 days” of judgment. The “10,000th day” falls on October 7, 2015, the 1,600th day of Judgment Day since May 21, 2011, and the 10,000th overall day since judgment began on the house of God on May 21, 1988. The number “10,000” is a number of “completeness.” We might even say it is “super completeness,” because it is “10 x 10 x 10 x 10” or 10 to the 4th power, and the number “4” indicates universality; it is the complete judgment of God upon all the wicked of this world, whether they are in the churches or out of the churches. It also happens to be the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Christ said, “The word that I have spoken will judge them on the last day,” and Christ also said, “I will raise them up on the last day,” and all these things are coming into focus on that particular day – October 7, 2015. It is a perfect day for the all the vials to have been completely poured out and the wrath of God to be finished and accomplished. It is a perfect day for God to declare that the wrath of His anger and the punishment of the wicked of this world will be complete. There will be no more. This is just additional encouragement to us that there is an excellent likelihood that it will be the last day for the history of this world.
Let us move on and read “Revelation 15:2:
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.
It is interesting that God goes from speaking of seven messengers that have the seven last plagues to seeing them that stood on the sea of glass and had gotten the victory over the beast. Of course, those that would get the victory over the beast are the true believers, God’s elect. It is only once we understand that the seven messengers are also God’s elect, that we can see the “flow” from verse to verse. There is no change in focus regarding who is in view, but it is speaking of them in a slightly different way, but in a much related way. What would seeing these victorious ones standing on the sea of glass have to do with seven messengers that are carrying the seven last plagues of the wrath of God? Later the seven messengers come out of the temple and their clothing is pure white linen and their golden girdles are priestly attire and they are coming out of the temple to perform a priestly duty.
We will see that the “sea of glass” has everything to do with the priests in the Old Testament. First of all, let us look at the word “glass.” We did encounter this word a little earlier in the Revelation, chapter 4. It says in Revelation 4:6:
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Here, the “sea of glass” is said to be “like unto crystal.” The word “glass” in Revelation 15 and in Revelation 4 is Strong’s #5193, but there is a very closely related word, Strong’s #5194, and that word is found twice in Revelation, chapter 21. Speaking of the new Jerusalem which is made up of God’s elect, it says in Revelation 21:18:
And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
In this statement the “pure gold” means that there is purity and the word “clear” is also translated as “clean” or “pure,” so it is an incredibly strong emphasis that tells us that what God is speaking of is as clean as possible. You have heard that expression, “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” but the cleanliness God is concerned about is the cleanliness of someone being washed of their sins; they are cleansed from all iniquity so there is no stain of iniquity or ugly sin of any kind. All of it is gone and all of it is removed. This is related to the “clear glass.” Then it goes on to say in Revelation 21:21:
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Again, there is purity and holiness and this is what is in view with the word “glass,” so as the Apostle John is given this vision of a sign in heaven, it says in Revelation 15:2:
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire…
Remember, the “fire” is what washes away sin, as the Lord Jesus endured the wrath of God from the foundation of the world for the sake of all those chosen people, His elect. He took upon Himself their sins and died for them. In death, He went through the “consuming fire” of God’s wrath and that is the “baptism” that washed away the sin and we were “baptized” with Him, as the Lord said to some of His apostles: “Can ye be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” Then He answered His own question and said that, indeed, they would be baptized with that baptism and that is because we are cleansed of our sins in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This “washing away” of transgression and iniquity took place when Christ went through the wrath of God and then He later demonstrated what He did. Then God applied that “washing” to His people during the day of salvation, at some point in their lives, before He ended His salvation program. By the time God ended His salvation program on May 21, 2011, all of God’s elect were “washed.” All were “cleansed” and, therefore, all had gone through the sea. They were not just ceremoniously washed, but they were actually washed of all sin, spiritually.
There is an interesting verse in Job. I do not understand the verse entirely, but it makes a connection that helps us. It says in Job 37:18:
Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
Here, God had begun to ask Job all sorts of questions concerning the wonderful works of God. It is one of the most glorious chapters, along with several other chapters at the end of Job, which really highlights the tremendous power and might of God as Creator. But, here, notice that God relates “molten” with “glass” when He says, “as a molten looking glass.” We also find that God speaks of a “molten sea” in 2Chronicles. We do not see the word “molten” in our verse in Revelation 15, but we have a “sea of glass,” and there is a relationship with that “sea of glass” and what it says in 2Chronicles 4:2-3:
Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.
Then it says in 2Chronicles 4:6:
He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
The “molten sea” was designed for the priests who entered into the temple and they had to do their priestly duties. But before they could go about any duty, it was commanded that they go to the “molten sea” and wash. It was a ceremonial law that God gave in order to illustrate that before a man can do service to God he must first wash in the sea. That was a spiritual picture to typify what happened when God saved people; they would become spiritual prophets, spiritual priests and spiritual kings, the Bible tells us. The Bible says we are a “royal priesthood,” and we are priests as we serve God and as we perform priestly duties. In the day of salvation, carrying the Gospel would have been our priestly duty. Now, in the Day of Judgment and harvest, we are commanded to reap and our priestly duty is to go forth and share the truth of the Bible, which would bring the declaration of the wrath of God in Judgment Day, and so forth. But, first, you have to “wash.” God had to save all His elect (which He has done) before He shut the door of heaven on May 21, 2011.
Now, in Revelation, chapter 15, the seven messengers of God have “the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God,” and, suddenly, we are then shown “a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast,” and they are standing on this “sea of glass.” The entire illustration is very significant. Who gets the victory over the beast? Did the “144,000” that were saved during the church age get the victory? The beast is a name that is given to Satan exclusively for his rule during the Great Tribulation, so the “144,000” did not get the victory over the beast. It is only the great multitude saved out of Great Tribulation that can be said to have gotten the victory over the beast.