15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
2 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. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!
4 Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
The vision of the sea of glass and the victory song in 2-4 is surely based on the story of the deliverance of Israel from the hosts of Pharaoh at the Red Sea. It is very natural that this should be so, since the ancient history of God's people is a foreshadowing of the experience of the Church in its conflict with the world. Indeed precisely the same principle operated in Moses' tussle with Pharaoh as always does in the Church's battle throughout the age. The word of the Lord came when Moses was sent to him with the challenge, 'Let My people go'. Then came the opposition and resistance - 'Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?' In answer to the opposition came the trumpets of warning, the plagues with which God visited Egypt (it is significant that the trumpets in Revelation 8/9 bear a marked similarity to them). Finally, when, Pharaoh refused to repent, the angel of death came to Egypt, and this represents the vials of wrath upon the impenitent king. Not least among the lessons we may learn from this is that of the patience and longsuffering of God, not only with Pharaoh but with mankind in general. This is something it is very necessary to remember in our study of a book which speaks so much about the judgments of God. The divine wrath is conspicuous in its long delays in history. This is the real answer to those who say, 'If God is a God of love why does He allow this or that?' referring to the wars that afflict mankind. But when we look at the facts, and see the long and continued unrepentant state of mankind, we shall begin to marvel, not that God should send judgment, but that He should have been so long in sending it.