And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

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.

3. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest:

5. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

6. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

7. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and eVer

8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The scene presented to us in this vision is but an introduction to the solemn scenes of awful judgment immediately following. The first thing that attracted John’s attention was a sign, great and marvelous, “seven angels having the seven last plagues.” The reason why these are denominated the “last plagues” is because that “in them is filled up the wrath of God.” These are the completion, then, the finishing up of the work of divine judgment against the persecutors of the church. When the last one is poured out the work is done, the time of judgment is oVer These angels are not designed to symbolize any agencies on earth, for they do not appear on earth; they are simply the conductors of the Revelation. God never commissions his people on earth to perform such great judgments upon their persecutors as the temporal judgments of the seven last plagues will be shown to be; but, on the contrary, he has given them the express command not to avenge themselves, but to suffer wrong. He himself lays exclusive claim to this prerogative, saying, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Rom 12:19.

As soon as the subject of the plagues is introduced and before they are poured out, the narrative suddenly changes and a short history of God’s redeemed saints is given. This, perhaps, thus occurs for two reasons to assist us in fixing the chronology of the events described and to encourage us with the thought that, even while the awful judgments of God are being “made manifest” upon the haughty oppressors of earth, God has a chosen people who have “gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” They stand upon the “sea of glass, having the harps of God” a symbol of melody and praise and sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses was that sung by the Israelites when they had escaped to the further side of the Red Sea, thus securing perfect deliverance from their enemies. So, also, this company of worshipers sing a great song of deliverance deliverance from the beast and his image. In chapters 4 and 5 John saw the great host redeemed before the apostasy standing on this sea of glass, singing the song of redemption the song of the Lamb but this company are enabled to sing another song as well the song of deliverance for they have “gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Halleluiah! “Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”

As before stated (Chap 8:3), the heavenly world as opened up to John appeared symbolized after the sanctuary of the temple. By “the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony,” out of which the seven angels came fully prepared for their work, is meant the most holy place of the sanctuary, called “the tabernacle of the testimony” because there was deposited in it, beneath the wings of the cherubim, the ark of the testimony, or God’s covenant. It was therefore as from the most holy place of the sanctuary from the very presence of the Deity that these angels went forth commissioned to execute the seven last plagues. This shows that they went by the divine command as ministers of vengeance. The purity and beauty of their attire denoted both the spotless excellency of their characters and the justice of the work in which they were to engage. Although theirs was a work of awful avenging judgment, still the garments they wore would not be soiled thereby; and their flowing robes of white were girded up with a beautiful golden girdle. Therefore there is no inconsistency between the purity and love of God and the work of his vengeance. It would seem to human reasoning that the two are irreconcilable, but these symbols teach differently.

These angels received their vials (goblets) of wrath at the hands of one of the four living creatures, who are symbols of the redeemed sons of earth. Their deliverance by one of these doubtless denotes that these judgments were to be executed in their behalf and in answer to their prayers. For centuries the wrath of deadly persecutors had been poured out upon God’s people, until the cry ascended from the lips of the martyrs, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Chap 6:10. Now their prayer is answered, and by their hand, as it were, the vials of wrath are delivered with the divine sanction unto the seven angels to be poured out upon these proud oppressors of the Lord’s people. These vials, too, were “full of wrath.” What a fearful expression! Full of wrath, even “the wrath of God, who liveth forever and eVer” There was nothing in them but wrath and that to the very brim.

As soon as the vials were delivered, “the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God.” This symbol is taken from the Shekinah which filled the ancient tabernacle. We read that when the tabernacle was finished, “a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Ex 40:34, 35. The same thing occurred at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. “The cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” 1 Kings 8:10, 11. So, also, in the symbol before us the glory of God filled the temple so that no man was able to enter. This is intended to set forth the fact that these avenging judgments were for the manifestation of the divine glory and that there was no access to the throne of God nor to his mercy-seat to alter them or to stay their execution. Such is the sublime scene presented to our view preparatory to the pouring out of the seven last great plagues.