The Sea of Glass

RV195-01

What exciting days we indeed are living in. This day, the people of France are voting on the Maastricht Treaty. They are having second thoughts whether they want to be part of a United States of Europe. Some of the Scandinavian countries have already demonstrated their second thoughts on the subject. One has pulled out: Sweden. That all-time great socialist country with a human face is backtracking and backpedaling as hard as it can, because socialism, even with a human face, is a disaster. Social programs operated by the government never work. They are always anti-biblical. They're always out of the plan of God.

Only in the United States do we see the madness of people rushing to establish over itself the tyrannical type of government which can provide social programs. Social programs always require a tyrannical government, because it is inherent in social programs to rob people of the fruits of their labors, and to give it to other groups of selected choice for the purpose of placing power in the hands of the re-distributors. Only in America do we see the madness of fleeing toward the disaster that the rest of the world, especially the former Soviet empire, is trying to disentangle itself, and to escape as rapidly as possible. They have known what Americans have never known – what it is to have your life controlled entirely by a government, and what it is to have your freedom restricted to do what you want to do; to go where you want to go; to use your money as you choose to use it; to make your money; to not make your money; to live on the street as a homeless person if you want to; or, to live in a palace if you choose that. Only in the United States, where people have never had that agony of the imposition of tyranny, does this madness exists.

Well, I don't know what the French people will do, but if they do vote "No" today, against this treaty, it is going to send reverberations through the financial structures all over the world. Isn't it interesting that we who know the Word of God understand that this man called the antichrist will force his socialist system upon these nations? They will be reluctant. They will not want to do that. That Scripture has posed some problems to some people, because it looked like Europe couldn't wait to get organized into a European community.

Well, here we have again, history unfolding before our eyes, because Europe is dragging its feet, and it's going to take a strong man to come on the scene, and to force them into the unity. Socialism and social programs, supervised and carried out by government, always require tyrannical force to impose upon a people. It always requires robbing people of their freedom.

We have observed in Revelation 15 that John has been given a third major sign in the heavens to confirm to him God's plan for the future tribulation era which is being revealed to him in a vision. John is in this way, with this trilogy of confirmation, being encouraged to believe what he sees and what he hears. It is God's way of saying, "John, these things are true. You are listening to Me. You are seeing things that are coming in the future. You are indeed being taken into My confidence. You're not just going crazy. You're not just hallucinating."

This third sign in the heavens which John now sees is far greater in impact than the first two. The third sign is more awesome to behold in its effect upon mankind. This sign consists of seven angels who line up with seven bowls in their hands. These bowls are filled with the worst of the wrath and judgment of God that humanity has faced up to that point in time in history. These bowls are filled with the plagues of God – seven specific plagues. They will conclude, when poured out, God's judgments upon the world. They will, when the final bowl is poured out, bring in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

So, these bowls are going to conclude the 490 years of Jewish history which was predicted to Daniel, that would end with the coming of the Messiah. The 490-year period began in 445 B.C. when the Medo-Persian king gave permission for the Jews to return to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And that period has now continued clicking off for 483 years. Then it was suddenly interrupted on Palm Sunday, to the very day – 483 years, to the very day, by the official rejection of Jesus the Messiah. Then was interjected what has now been almost a 2,000-year period of the church age, and seven years of the 490 have never been fulfilled. It is important that you understand that time period. That seven years is the tribulation era that we have been studying.

Once the church is removed, at the catching out of the church (or the rapture of the church back to heaven), the final seven years of the 490 predicted years of Jewish history, when God would bring in righteousness and complete all of His promises to the Jewish people and to Abraham – once the church is gone, that seven years will again begin ticking off, and it will be fulfilled to the day with the final pouring out of the seventh bowl of the wrath of God, and the return of Jesus Christ.

Following the final battle of the Armageddon campaign, Christ comes to this earth with us to set up His Millennial Kingdom. The antichrist and the false prophet at that time will be thrown into the lake of fire. Satan will be imprisoned for 1,000 years during the Millennial Kingdom. The wrath of God, at this point in history, when the seven bowls of wrath are poured out, will be without mercy. There will be no mercy shown and no quarter given. God Himself acts here against rebellious mankind in His final outburst of judgments. Some of the judgments we had under the seals and under the trumpets were done by people. They were done by nature. They were done by circumstances of other kinds. The seven plagues of the seven bowls of the wrath of God are done by God Himself. He handles the job personally this time.

A Sea of Glass

This sea of glass is an image which we have already previously seen in the book of the Revelation. If you go back to Revelation 4:6, there we read, "And before the throne." This is God's throne in heaven. "There was" again is "hos" ("as it were"). This is a comparison. There wasn't actually a sea of H2O there before the throne of God, but it appeared to be like that. There was a sea of glass: "This like crystal." This tells us that this was a transparent object that was seen here. It is seen here lying in heaven before God's throne. Here, in Revelation 4:6, the glass is crystal. It is diamond-light. What that suggests is the transparency of God in whom no evil can be seen.

You will see that this symbol coordinates with the holiness of God. God's throne is there, and the foundation upon which God sits, and everything that God does, is absolute holiness. He is the God who is absolute righteousness. He is the God who is perfect justice. Those two facets constitute His Holiness.

The sea of glass is not found in the Old Testament. So, this gives us something of a problem to try to interpret this a little more specifically. However, we do have a different kind of sea which does give us a clue. It's in 1 Kings 7:23. This is describing the construction of the items that have to do with the erection of Solomon's temple: "Now he made the sea of cast metal," and then he describes it: "Ten cubits from brim-to-brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits and 30 cubits in circumference."

Here was part of the furniture of Solomon's Temple. It was a huge round base, 15 feet in diameter, seven-and-a-half feet high, and we're told that it rested on the backs of 12 sculptured oxen facing outward toward the four primary directions of the compass. Those of you who visited with us the Mormon temple here in Dallas, before it was dedicated, and thus closed to all of you gentiles, remember seeing where they baptized people in behalf of the dead – for without water baptism in Mormonism, you cannot go to heaven. If you died without water baptism because you didn't understand this principle, they have other people who will be baptized for you. That's why they have the great genealogical library. They have a whole building in downtown Salt Lake City which is devoted entirely to gathering the names of people from Adam on through the human race in every country on the face of the earth that has ever existed and lived. Some Mormons dedicate themselves simply to the process of taking these names, and being baptized for them. They do it all day long. It's a duty that has some side effects: some good; and, some bad. You never have to take a bath, but it sure does wrinkle your skin terribly by the end of a day of all these repeated baptisms.

Anyhow, you saw the basin in which this was done. And they have reproduced exactly what you have in 1 Kings. It is the exact size, and there are these huge oxen (these bulls), 12 of them, facing in four directions. And on their backs rests this huge basin into which they walk down to do their baptism by immersion.

So, this huge basin held 17,500 gallons of water. That's why it appeared to be a sea. It was called here, "a sea of metal" or "a sea of brass," but it replaced the laver of the tabernacle era. The laver was a smaller container of water which was used in connection with the sacrificial system. The laver was used for washing in connection with the sacrifices that were being performed. You can read about that in Exodus 30:19-21.

The Levitical priest was not allowed to stand outside at the altar of sacrifice, and go through that bloody ritual, slaughtering the animal, and then placing it upon the altar, and then walking into the holy place to minister before God. Between his sacrifice for the covering of sin, and his walking into the holy place to minister was this basin of water, the laver, in the tent tabernacle set-up. He had to stop and wash his hands and his feet before he could enter the presence of God to minister.

Well, this sea of metal (this huge container – this basin that was erected in Solomon's temple) was exactly for that purpose. It replaced the smaller laver, and it looked like a sea. What does this symbolize? Well, this symbolized experiential sanctification. It symbolizes being in temporal fellowship with God. Out at the brazen altar, where you sacrificed your animal, you covered your sins. That had to be done only once in terms of what Christ did. But then came the problem of your personal daily sin. When you go before God, like to the altar of incense in the holy place to pray, you must have your personal cleansing (your experiential sanctification – your 1 John 1:9 confession of your personal known sins). And that's what is symbolized here by the laver.

Ephesians 5:26 tells us that we Christians today are sanctified in our daily actions and experience by the washing of the water with the Word. How do you keep straight in your walk with God? You keep straight by having yourself cleansed by the doctrines of Scripture. This is why you have these terrible things that take place within Christian communities. People who are ignorant of the doctrines of Scripture do not know how to maintain their personal sanctification and cleansing before God; or, they know it, and they choose to ignore it. The cleansing of doctrine applied, and the confession to God for fractures of that doctrine, establish the 1 John 1:9 cleansing of temporal fellowship with God.

So, the sea of water in Solomon's temple was associated with ceremonial cleansing required by the holiness of God. And that's the connection. The reason you had this huge laver of water (this huge basin of water) was because God is holy, and you don't come into His presence dirty. And while you have the position of sanctification of having trusted in Christ as Savior, your experiential sanctification has to be dealt with on a moment-by-moment basis. As you become dirty with sin, and dirty with fracture doctrine, then it must be corrected and washed away by subjecting yourself to the Word of God and admitting and confessing to the Father.

So, the connection of what John sees (this huge sea of glass in front of the throne of God) has to do with the holiness of god, as it did in the Old Testament basin ritual ceremonial system.

But John see something here now that he did not see previously when he saw this sea of glass. We're told that in this one, he sees something mixed, and this is the Greek word "mignumi." This word means "to enter something into something else." And what this is mixed with, it says, is "pur" (fire). John seas fire now under the sea of glass – fire with God's holiness. It is a symbol, obviously, for divine judgments. God's holiness here, it is stressed, will judge sin. The ultimate judgment is death.

So, again, while God is love, indeed, you must remember that He cannot violate His primary attribute. The primary attribute of god is justice. He cannot violate His justice, and along with His absolute righteousness. That constitutes His Holiness. God is limited. He cannot use His love in a way that violates His personal holiness, because it fractures His absolute righteousness, or He loves in a way that would violate His perfect justice. His sovereignty is limited (speaking poetically) by His own character. God has to be true to Himself. He cannot violate His integrity.

So, here you have this symbol of fire, representing the judgment of God, being mixed with His Holiness, and this is in the perfect Greek tense, which indicates that this is something that is from the past; it is characteristic of God; and, it always continues. It is passive, which, as I have just said, is imposed upon God by His own character. His own integrity requires that that fire of judgment be exercised against evil.

Then, he observes a company of martyrs: "I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with the fire of divine judgment, and those who had come off victorious." The word "victorious" is one that we have had before in the book of the Revelation, "nikao," and it means "to overcome." He sees the company of winners. Yes, they once lived on the earth. Yes, they were in the tribulation. Yes, all the events of the tribulation era swirled around them. And now they're dead, because they were martyred for their faith in Christ: for their testimony; for their standing by the blood of Jesus Christ; and, for rejecting any loyalty to the antichrist.

So, here he says, "I saw those who had come off victorious." And this is in the present tense, which means that these people are permanently victorious. They're never going to be losers. They have come through. It is active voice, which means that it was their personal accomplishment. They took a position. They made a decision. They had to choose between right and wrong. They had to choose between being mistreated and being given the treatment that they deserved. Everything that they should have had in that world was denied them, and everything that should not have been done to them was done to them.

Can you see here a basis for a lot of bitterness? Can you see here a lot of frustration on the part of tribulation believers? What's going on here? Is God in charge here or what? It is the same issue that all of us sometime must face: Let God be true, and all men liars. As Paul said, "If God be for us, who can be against us? So, try to rise to a level of spiritual maturity exemplified by these people in the future in the tribulation who have risen to an orientation that they know how to walk in confidence before God, and they do not listen to, or cast their eyes upon, the trivial people that surround them. Remember that there's only one preeminent person of significance in the world, and that's Jesus Christ. Everyone else is trivial – some more than others. And trivial people destroy themselves over trivial things.

These people in tribulation know that they've got big stuff at stake here. They are the testimony, and they are the lighthouses. They also know the consequences of taking the mark of the beast in loyalty to him. They cast their lot with Jesus Christ. And what happens? They get killed. That's a victory? That's a "nikao?" That's exactly what God says. These people come off victorious. They come off victorious from whom? From the beast, referring here to the antichrist.

The saints in heaven, which John sees, have been victorious over the very antichrist that killed them. They refused to join his cause against God. So, they were martyred. They refused to blaspheme God – what the antichrist wanted them to do. So, what did they do? They chose physical death with eternal salvation as justified children of God, rather than choosing to stay alive, as those who take the mark will do, and then to experience eternal death after they die. That's the choice. These people are not going to turn their backs upon God. It is so easy, believers, to turn your back upon God. It is so easy for Satan to enable you to do that because you forget the issues that are involved. You lose your sense of priority. And worst of all, you lose what we talked about in the last session – that emotional attachment to Jesus Christ.

So, what do you do? You desert Him. That's what you do. You desert your one true love. And you think that you're perfectly justified, and you think that you're perfectly on track. The whole world of the tribulation is going to think that these people are crazy. The whole world, as in Noah's day, is going to think that they are the ones who are in the know. But they're wrong. It is those who stick by the work of God to which He has called them. And the beast (the antichrist) is the one who in the end will be the one who will be defeated.

It gets very specific. It said that they came off victorious over the beast who was trying to cause them to do some terrible things, among which was his image (his "eikon)". This refers to that statue that the beast will have made of himself, to be worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem. The tribulation believers refuse to bow down to this idol because it is forbidden by the law of God to do that. God's law in both the Old and the New Testament says that you will not bow down to idol images. You will not worship before idol images.

The Second Commandment

It is interesting that the Roman Catholic Church has the Ten Commandments, and in its catechism, it teachers the Ten Commandments, but it has eliminated the Second Commandment. When you go through the Ten Commandments listed in the Roman Catholic catechism, you will not find this commandment which I just read to you. Do I have to explain to you why this is a little touchy and tricky commandment for them? Obviously, Roman Catholicism is filled with worshiping in front of images of all kinds, not the least of which is the virgin Mary. That's why it is so easy for any pagan group in South America to come in and to worship in the Catholic Church, and the priests do not hinder them. They worship their pagan gods there. They even bring their little images before them. I have seen them in Central American Guatemala – the witchdoctors kneeling inside the gloomy, smoky cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Chichicastenango. And there they are at Santo Tomas Church. And this guy has his little candle and his images, and he's going through his ritual and saying his prayers, and going through the whole thing right there. And the whole church is filled with images of all kinds of saints and of the virgin Mary in a primary physician.

Well, how do they get ten then? Yes, they do have Ten Commandments in the catechism. They take the last one about coveting, and they divide it into two. They are very clever. They simply say, "Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's house," and then they break off at about that point, and they give the rest of it: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male servant, or anything else that belongs to him."

So, the Word of God is very clear. You don't bow down before images. And those who know the Word of God know that this is a very serious evil.

So, in the tribulation, knowledgeable people are going to reject this. And not only are we told that these believers do not worship the image of the beast, but they've also been victorious over him. It says, "Because they refused to take the number of his name." They refused to take the mark of the beast. They maintain their loyalty to Jesus Christ. And they're faced, as a result of that, with a great deal of privation. As the passage in Revelation 13 tells us, without this mark, you can't do business; you can't go to the grocery store; you can't buy products that you need; you cannot do anything to survive in any way; and, you are left out to starve.

When Soviet Russia was at its primary level of power, everybody had to have an ID card. You could not do business without that card. All they had to do was pull that card, and you couldn't buy food, and you could not get shelter. You would simply starve of privation. This is the same system that is going to be imposed by the antichrist. These are the people who will have faced and won over the greatest temptation in testing ever devised by Satan. A father will be seeing his children starving. A mother will be unable to care for the physical needs and the shelter of her children in the tribulation: "Should we go with God, or should we pretend that we'll go with the antichrist? Go ahead. Give us your mark. It's invisible now. Nobody will see it. Nobody will know it. We'll take it."

These people will not do that. Many people of that society will crack, and they'll take the mark of the antichrist. 1 Peter 1 speaks to those of us who live in this church age in a similar way of facing up to the temptation to compromise. 1 Peter 1:7-8 speaks of the trial which tests the faith of a believer, and we are called to resist: "That the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." This is the proof of your faith: "I am a biblical fundamentalist Christian." Are you going to stand up and say that to all the world? Are you going to talk so that people can figure out that that's what you are, even if you don't say it? Are you going to act, and are you going to have positions in life that indicate that that's what you are?

Vice President Quayle has received ridicule over his criticism of the breakup of the family. Now, in the United States, only 30% of American homes have a mother who cares for children and a father who earns a living. The rest of them have all been fractured and broken up in one way or another, and it is always bad. It is never good. When this man stands and says, "Our public entertainment media should not glorify family breakup as being an OK situation, and just another way of living that's just as good as living with two parents. That's wrong." The reason he's saying it's wrong is because the Bible says that it's wrong. That brought the ridicule, and I mean the ridicule has been unending. When all the high and mighty trivial people in the television industry gathered to recognize one another with their Emmy Awards, one after another took their cheap shots at Vice President Quayle, because he thinks that God is right, and he's got the gall to publicly say so.

This is what we're talking about. This is what 1 Peter 1:7 is speaking about – the proof of your faith: "It's more precious to you than gold, which is perishable, even though you were tested by the fires of judgment and persecution, so that you may be found in result to the praise and the glory and the honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Yes, you betcha, there are going to be some Christians standing out there among us at that Judgment Seat of Christ, and they are going to be obviously showered with glory and honor and praise by God, and they're going to be rewarded accordingly. Why? Because they said, "God is right, and I'm not going to be an abusive, ill-mannered Christian when I say it, but I'm going to let you know that you are wrong, and God is right, and God is going to win, and those who stand with Him will be the victorious ones." Nothing will seem more unlikely than that those who oppose the antichrist are going to be the winners. But the truth of the matter is, that's exactly what's going to be.

These tribulation martyrs, then, are seen here by John standing upon this sea of glass which represents the holiness of God. And John sees the fire flashes underneath, indicating that the judgment of God is necessitated by His holiness. Yet, this vast assemblage of martyrs stands there calmly. They do not stand there in fear of the holiness of God, and of the judgment indicated by the fire. They can do this because they possess the absolute righteousness of Jesus Christ. They are positionally perfect in Christ. They are holy. Christ has covered their moral guilt with His death on the cross so that God's fiery wrath against sin cannot touch them – ever, in any way. These martyrs stand with a personal justification which was based upon the doctrines of the Word of God. The result is that they can stand, and they can indeed stand here and do no other. There is no false salvation that will carry you through.

These who are standing upon this sea of the glass of God's holiness have passed the point of God's judgment. They have passed the point of God's judgment against sin, so the lake of fire can never have any claim against them. This is what Jesus meant when, in John 10:27, He said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish. And no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." So, you have the picture here of the believer encased in the hand of Jesus Christ, and around the hand of Christ is the hand of God the Father, anthropomorphically speaking; that is, speaking in human terms.

Most of the human race is not going to come out very well from the tribulation era, any more than they have in other generations. Most of the human race will not be able to stand upon the sea of glass of God's holiness before His throne. They are instead going to experience the fire of that sea of glass, and the wrath of God in the lake of fire. That truth is declared for us in Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it."

This is our primary calling. This is your ambassadorship. When your priesthood is in proper order with the confession of known sins, then your ambassadorship is operational. Whatever else you say to people; whatever else you do in your contacts with people; and, whatever else you're engaged in in your life, your primary calling is to appoint people to that narrow door that goes into eternal life.

Have you ever been with somebody who becomes irritated when you're in a public place or in some kind of a social setting, and you get off on talking about this narrow gate, and this small gate, and this narrow way? It's embarrassing. You sit here and you talk about the small gate into heaven, and the narrow gate that leads to eternal life, because this guy is a Muslim; he's a Mormon; he's a Catholic; or, he's something else. And you're going to offend him because you're going to tell him that Jesus Christ is the small gate, and He is the narrow way, yet, that's what the Bible says exactly. He is the shepherd. He is the gate into the sheepfold. He is the narrow way into eternal life.

So, what the tribulation Christians face, you face too. How many times have you clammed up? How many times have you backed off, to be silent, because you didn't want to sound weird, and odd, and fundamentalist, and religiously fanatical? Or maybe you thought you might lose some business, or you might not be able to get some prosperity that could come your way, providing you acted like one of the people of the world.

You should not do your evangelism on your employer's time. That disgraces all of us as Christians. You should not be doing your evangelism when you're being paid to work. But on your own time, this is your primary calling.

Here these martyrs stand, because they have found the small gate; they walked that narrow way; and, there is no fear upon them.

Then John notices something else. They're holding something in their hands as they stand there. He says, "They who have come out victorious over the antichrist at the cost of their lives, standing here in perfect calm on the sea of God's holiness, with judgment that cannot touch them, are holding harps ('kithara') of God." They're holding "kithara" God. And why are they holding these harps? Well, as we shall see in a minute, they're singing. This is a huge choir, which has gathered. It's called the Martyrs' Choir. They probably do a lot of touring throughout the celestial realms, as the choral group, and they put on concerts, and here they're putting on a concert before the lord's throne. ... This is a choral group, and they accompany themselves on their harps. God has changed the martyrs' earthly sorrow to joy in heaven.

The first time in the Bible that we have people singing in exhilarating joy and praise to God (the first time we have it recorded) is at the Red Sea, when the Jews got through safe, sound, and dry. The last time we have of people singing God's praises with great exhilaration is right here. The harps are used to accompany their song of praise to God. They stand before God on the holy ground as those who have been victorious over the antichrist's demand to blaspheme God by worshiping the antichrist. They are experiencing here joy unspeakable and full of glory.

So, remember that, please, when the smart mouths of the world ridicule you, and speak to you condescendingly and put you down. The smart mouths of the world are going to get shut. I want to tell you how smart mouths work. When they have no substance, and when they have nothing to say, they become bombastic. Have you ever noticed that? They come on like a herd of buffalo, and they are loud, and they are confident, and they're what 1 Corinthians calls clanging cymbals with no meaning and substance? Do not be intimidated by verbal people. Do not be intimidated by the fact that you know what you're talking about because you've taken the trouble to be taught the Word of God, and the Word that you've been taught is the truth. If you act upon that, it's going to take you all your life to rise to what we know in Christ. But the result is going to be joy unspeakable and full of glory, because you have taken your stand with Him, even as these people will do in the future tribulation.

None of us will probably ever suffer in the way that these believers are going to suffer. And, after all their suffering, and the loyalty that they will demonstrate to Christ, they will not enjoy being part of the company of the body of Christ that we will be part of. The church age will have closed with the rapture. They're back on Old Testament ground. They're back with the Jews. They'll come into the millennium, but they will not have the position of authority; the position of honor; or, the position of leading the Millennial Kingdom that will be the role to which we will be called. Do you think that maybe God is keeping an eye on you to see how you do your job now, to know what He can trust you with out in the millennium? You can count on it.

This is as the parable that Jesus portrayed of the man who was faithful in little things. He was told to step up to authority over a lot of big things. If you are not faithful in the things in which you can be faithful, He's going to remember that. That's on your service record, and you can count on it that when you did not stand by your guns to which He called you, He is not about to entrust you with another mission such that you can cop out again.

These people in the tribulation should be a great inspiration to us all. They end up, after all they've gone through, singing the praises of Almighty God. And what should they sing? How appropriately, they look down at that sea of glass; they see the fire of God's judgment under that sea of glass; and, what should pop into their minds, but a song that the Jews in ancient times sang every Sabbath day to commemorate the power and the greatness of God? And suddenly, this whole mighty chorus in heaven bursts out in that same song.

Next time, we shall read that song together, and we shall study it as the expression of God's glory that has not often been expressed in human words in human history. Please join us.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1992

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