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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 15

1 Then I saw another great and astounding sign in heaven: seven angels who have seven final plagues (they are final because in them God’s anger is completed). 2 Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God. 3 They sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful! Just and true are your ways, King over the nations! 4 Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy? All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.”⁠ 5 After these things I looked, and the temple (the tent of the testimony) was opened in heaven, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean bright linen, wearing wide golden belts around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and from his power. Thus no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues from the seven angels were completed.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 86:8 and Revelation 15:4

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation’s celebration of divine victory echoes language from Psalm 86, which describes all nations coming to worship Israel's God and affirming his uniqueness compared to the gods of the nations.

Passages

Psalm 86:8

Hebrew Bible
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry out to you all day long. 4 Make your servant glad, for to you, O Lord, I pray. 5 Certainly, O Lord, you are kind and forgiving, and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you. 6 O Lord, hear my prayer. Pay attention to my plea for mercy. 7 In my time of trouble I cry out to you, for you will answer me. 8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord. Your exploits are incomparable. 9 All the nations, whom you created, will come and worship you, O Lord. They will honor your name. 10 For you are great and do amazing things. You alone are God.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Revelation 15:4

New Testament
2 Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God. 3 They sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful! Just and true are your ways, King over the nations! 4 Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy? All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.” 5 After these things I looked, and the temple (the tent of the testimony) was opened in heaven, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean bright linen, wearing wide golden belts around their chests.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... One of several crescendos in the book of Revelation is a song of victory, which is described as resounding with the themes of “the song of Moses” (Revelation 15:3), presumably as found in Exodus 15. The song in its original context highlights the name of God as warrior, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name” (Exodus 15:3), provoking awe and fear from the nations: “The peoples have heard, they tremble” (Exodus 15:14-16). The overwhelming majesty stimulates the question, “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?” (Exodus 15:11). Apart from thematic allusions, the book of Exodus is not the source of the specific quotations in the song of Revelation 15:3-5. It is instead composed of lines taken from Jeremiah and Psalms. From Jeremiah 10:7 comes the phrase, “Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?” From Psalm 98:2 the author adds the line, “He has revealed His righteousness.” Most of the composition comes from Psalm 86: “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name. For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God” (Psalm 86:9-10) ..."
Steven C. Hawthorne, Let all the Peoples Praise Him: Toward a Teleological Paradigm of the Missio Dei (Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Intercultural Studies, 2013), 152.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalm 86:8 and Revelation 15:4

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