Dear Student of the Word,
it is my pleasure to send along my commentary for Revelation chapter 15, which is a short chapter that contains several images with which we became familiar in the Old Testament. As I have stated throughout this study, God is less interested in predicting the future in Revelation as He is in pointing out that all things that had their beginning in the Old Testament were and are fulfilled in Christ. After this week's study, there are seven more to go. Thank you for helping me finish this work so I can publish it later this year.
Here is what I wrote about Revelation 15:2 in this week's study, which you can download below:
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2And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name.
15:2 – There is a reward for those who overcome the devil and his world system. God honors them, if not in this life, then certainly in the next. It is interesting that God gives them harps to play. A harp is a difficult instrument to master. Not many people on earth play a harp. If God gives you a harp, something seemingly complicated and hard to do, however, then he will equip you to play it! What is impossible for man is possible for God (see Luke 1:37).
Notice that the saints were rewarded for overcoming, yet it is the grace of God that enables us to overcome. Our spiritual success is a partnership, for we must cooperate with God’s grace and allow it to work in our lives doing what we can to allow it to work in us. Yet we can never take credit for what God has done in our lives; it is His work alone.
In 15:2, John saw a sea of glass mixed with fire. Let’s think about glass for a minute. Glass reflects things and the Church is to reflect God’s glory on earth. The word is also a glass for we look in it and it shows us the reflection of who we are or are not. Finally, it is hard to hide behind glass. The Church’s deeds are to be pure and holy, done is such a way that the world will see and hopefully turn to Him:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the daily devotional entitled Your Life Matters: Daily Reflections from the Book of Psalms. Thank you and soon I will begin sending you my edited studies from James' epistle. After that, we will only have the book of Revelation to complete before the entire New Testament is on the site where this study is posted.
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