From: Revelation 15:1-4
The Hymn of the Saved
[2] And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those
who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, stan-
ding beside the sea of glass with harps of gold in their hands. [3] And they
sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true
are thy ways, O King of the ages! [4] Who shall not fear and glorify thy name,
O Lord? For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship thee, for
thy judgments have been revealed.”
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1. The third portent (cf. the first two in 12:1, 3) is of special significance — it is
“great and wonderful” — for it heralds the final outcome of the contention between
the beasts and the followers of the Lamb, between the powers of evil and the
Church of Jesus Christ. That this is the denouement is shown by the use of the
figure seven for a third time, after the seven seals (5:1) and the seven trumpets
(cf. Rev 8:2). This is the last word: “the wrath of God is ended.”
As in the case of the two earlier groups of seven, the author first announces the
sevenfold nature of the sign. It consists of seven plagues — which immediately
recall the punishments God inflicted on Pharaoh in Egypt prior to the Exodus.
Then follows a very liturgical type of scene (15:2-8) which as it were encourages
and calls for the divine judgments which follow (cf. 16:1-17).
The last of these plagues acts as an introduction to the account of the last bat-
tles and total victory of the Church (cf. chaps. 17-22).
2-4. The image of the sea of glass mixed with fire is somewhat reminiscent of
the passage of the Red Sea during the Exodus. On that occasion, according to
the Book of Wisdom (cf. Wis 19:6-22), natural elements were changed to enable
the Israelites to walk on water: the water became as hard as glass for the Israe-
lites whereas for the Egyptians it was unable to protect them from the fire sent to
punish them. The sea of glass may also be evocative of the molten sea (used for
the cleansing of those going to take part in temple rites) which was positioned in
front of the Holy of Holies (cf. note on Rev 4:6-7). In any event, the author depicts
the saved as giving thanks and praising God while intoning a hymn which fuses
the salvation of the Israelites with the Redemption wrought by Christ. The latter
is the full realization of the former, and God’s plan is seen to embrace all men
and all nations (cf. v. 4; Eph 3:4-7). For this reason some early Christian writers
(Primasius, for example) interpret the sea of glass as a symbol of Baptism (pre-
figured in the Red Sea) which makes Christians pure and transparent. The refe-
rence to fire signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. “Commentariorum Super
Apoc.”, 15, 2).
Every saving action of God has ultimately a supernatural purpose, even though
it may include noble human aims, for when “God rescues his people from hard
economic, political and cultural slavery, he does so in order to make them,
through the Covenant on Sinai, ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Ex 19:
6). God wishes to be adored by people who are free. All the subsequent libe-
rations of the people of Israel help to lead them to this full liberty that they can
only find in communion with their God” (SCDF, “Libertatis Conscientia”, 44).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.