Revelation Ch 15 (Third Sunday of Advent)

Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven. There were seven angels with seven plagues—and these are the last, for with them God’s anger is brought to an end. Then I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who gained victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing by the glass sea, holding harps from God. They sing the song of Moses, God’s servant, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and awe-inspiring are your works,
        Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
        king of the nations.
Who won’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name?
        You alone are holy.
All nations will come and fall down in worship before you,
        for your acts of justice have been revealed.”

After this I looked, and the temple in heaven—that is, the tent of witness—was opened. The seven angels, who have the seven plagues, came out of the temple. They were clothed in pure bright linen and had gold sashes around their waists. Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the anger of the God who lives forever and always. The temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven last angels were brought to an end.

Commentary

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the section that follows concerning the vials. Broadly, it emphasizes once more one of the basic ideas of Revelation, that of the angelic-human nature of the historical process, and displays again the rhythm of the book's exposition through contrasts, comparisons and contrapositions of heavenly and earthly events. (Apocalypse)

The final accomplishments are preceded by the song of Moses, the friend of God, the founder of the Old Testament theocracy, a song sung by the seven angels: "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 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" (15:3-4). Like His First Coming into the world, His Second Coming is not a unilateral but a bilateral act. For the Second Coming to be accomplished, the time for the end of the world must arrive through the work of the world itself. Among other conditions, this time is determined by human freedom; and depending on this freedom, it can be shorter or longer, although it arrives according to the will of the Heavenly Father, who establishes the times and seasons of the accomplishments. In this sense, the Second Coming is not only a Divine work but also a human one, which is to be accomplished on the pathways of history. Such is the importance, seriousness, and significance of human history after Christ on the pathways of His enthronement, which is being accomplished in us and through us. History is not an empty corridor that we must come to the end of in order to escape from this world into the other world. It belongs to the work of Christ in His Incarnation. It is the apocalypse that is moving toward eschatological consummation. It is the divine-human work on earth. This lays the foundation for an apocalyptic-eschatological, immanent-transcendent, religious evaluation of the common work of humanity in the world. Being in essence Christ's work, man's creative activity in history must reveal and manifest the entire profundity and power of humanity. It must reveal in man the image of God. (Lamb of God)

Collect