January 30 – The Song of Moses and of the Lamb

January 30 – The Song of Moses and of the Lamb

Revelation 15:1-4

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: 

         “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.  Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

The final plagues are about to be delivered and John looks around the throne room to describe what he sees.  The sea of glass from Revelation 4:6, now it is mixed with fire.

The ‘sea’ is represented in the Tabernacle and the Temple as the Golden Laver, or bowl, used for cleansing.  The imagery here is a little obtuse, but you can get there.  In singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, more water imagery is discussed.

The song of Moses was sung in Exodus 15, just after he had led the people of Israel through the Red Sea.  It symbolized crossing from the old into the new, leaving the pain of slavery behind and entering a new life of freedom.

The song of the Lamb also refers to water. Before Jesus began his ministry, he was baptized in the Jordan River.  Baptism is a symbol of repentance and though that was the last thing Jesus Christ needed, it was symbolic of the transformation we all make as we move from a life lived without God to a life lived in His will.  Jesus showed the people of Israel who were there that He was doing His work within the will of God the Father and this was affirmed by the dove who came down from heaven and the voice saying, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”

 In John 3, a Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus asking questions about His relationship to God and Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again; he must be born of water and of the Spirit.

Each of us makes the choice to be a Christian. We are baptized as a symbol of passing through the water of our old life into a new life living within the will of God.

These songs and this imagery are lifted up as the tension within heaven increases.  More destruction is about to be poured out on the remaining inhabitants of earth and they still refuse to acknowledge God as King.  But, that will soon change as all nations come and worship before Him.