What does the chapter actually say?
Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
REVELATION • CHAPTER 15
Revelation 15
Letters to churches, throne-room visions, seals, trumpets, beasts, Babylon, persecution, judgment, resurrection, and new creation.
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Revelation 15
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God’s wrath is finished.
2
I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
3
They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty!
Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
“Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty!
Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
4
Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you only are holy.
For all the nations will come and worship before you.
For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
and glorify your name?
For you only are holy.
For all the nations will come and worship before you.
For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5
After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
6
The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out, clothed with pure, bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around their breasts.
7
One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.
8
The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished.
APOCALYPTIC
Where this chapter fits
Revelation uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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