Help please: Rev. 15:2 and what the sea of glass is?

[Jubilee21]

Am hoping some folks here could help me understand this verse better...

what might the sea of glass represent?
who are the ones that had gotten the victory over the beast and his image, etc?

And if I understand this, were able to, by having the harp of God..

so what is the harp of God here?

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Are they also the same ones in this verse ( see below - Rev.20:4)?

It doesn't appear to be the case but then again they could be but simply a seperate event where they are rewarded by God with additional blessings for the price they paid to gain victory over the beast?

Since I don't understand what the sea of glass represents or where it is located in terms of a time frame, I am confused what the significance of the harps are about as well:scratch

Any help or direction to further study this would be "muchly appreciated" and my thanks ahead of time for those that respond!!!:hug

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

[Sing4Him]

15:2-- This is a picture of those who have triumphed over the Beast. (Tribulation Saints) This is a glimpse of heaven. Worship to God!

Here John sees a march of angels bringing the last wrath of the great Tribulation (3 1/2 yrs end of the 7)

This sea of glass represents the horrible persecution BY the beast in the tribulation.

Only those sealed by God will make it through. We see those with harps who have come through this fire-- and we then see them singing.

and to answer your question? (good question BTW!) Rev 20:4-- These are those who were beheaded DURING the tribulaltion. those saints who died.

[Jubilee21]

"Phew"?....:aha

Thank you for clarifying this..that was what I thought was the case but based upon Rev. 4:6 John is caught up into heaven and led through an open door, where he sees a throne and one seated on the throne.

"In front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal" (lit. "as a hyaline sea"), I was confused at what point this was taking place in terms of the tribulation timeline..

It clearly was transpiring in heaven (where John was taken) because the reference of Rev.4:6 also indicates that John was standing before the throne and Christ was sitting on it.

So my reasoning was these had to be the Tribulation saints..in 15:2 but was this taking place approximately right after the mid point time frame and when the anti christ ramped up his persecution of them and why so many were dying becoming martyers of the faith or was it something else..

And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Your ways, O King of saints. --Rev 15:3

So I understood what the harps were for here in this context of worship..if I was not wrong about which group this was..and that the fire signified the ones with the harps as the saints from the tribulation when it was used with the sea of glass reference but which ones?

the ones who were sealed and survived to the end or the ones who lost their lives:scratch

I have two versions where one says the saints stood in the fire on the sea of glass and another that says they stood beside it...so perhaps this is what was throwing me off here..

Hyaline, pronounced HI-a-line, is a transliteration of the Greek word meaning "of glass" or "of crystal." Therefore it is something that is transparent, glassy, crystalline, vitreous. Four times it appear's in Revelation as the Greek words "hyaline" or "hyalos." Rev. 4:6,Rev. 15:2,and finally, when he describes the dimensions and materials of the heavenly city, he says: "The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass" and "each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass" (21:18, 21).

So the reference to the sea indicated to me the size of the glass floor before the throne, as in the heavenly city v.21..the streets of heaven..so again the fire made a reference to those that had not taken the mark of the beast..but again, which ones, or perhaps both..the ones who had survived to the end or gave their lives rather than take it..:thinking

The scenes are just so beautifull and just thrills me to know the words of the Song of Moses and imagine the sheer grandeur of the details, glimpses of heaven and being in the presence of Christ, worshipping him and being surrounded by all of these saints!!!..:) What an honor and how absolutely thrilling!

[Sing4Him]

Before I read your last line, I was going to say how beautiful this is.. so awesome. :)

[Jubilee21]

It sure is beautiful..and until I actually undertook reading Revelation, I had no clue, none at all about the details of heaven...just my imagination, nor one even on a good day ever portrayed the one, the real one, that was right there under my nose or the wonderful ending of the story that God has provide for us..

I was raised a Catholic so we were not encouraged or exposed to Revelation at all..just the details that were given to us, in short go to confession, receive all the sacraments and hope you don't die before you receive the last sacrament or that your family would pray enough rosaries or could afford to buy mass cards to get you out of either purgatory or hell depending how bad the sin was you died with:aha...

somehow I got it in my head because everything was in Latin and with all the pomp and circumstance of the rituals and practices of the church we attended and my tutoring by Nuns and Priests in parochial school..that I was not worthy to read the Word of God nor would be able to get it right..

Not unless I became a Nun of course and that was not in the cards for this 'heathen'....I actually had no clue the bible was written in English..:faint..we didn't own one that was not in Latin and those little Catholic Mass books we were given to keep and use for mass only had the responses we had to repeat back during mass in English..
Fortunately my old parish gave way to progress while I was in highschool and I met other folks who were not Catholics and things were translated into English so I began to put the dots together about a lot that God made sure I found , that brought me to Him!!:)

What really floored me.just knocked my socks off was the idea that the floors of Heaven were glass and in respect to the use of the word of sea as in a "sea of glass"..we are talking about one HUGE floor before the throne of Christ..and how much room this leaves to be filled up with the Saints who will come through the tribulation and how HUGE, this wonderful city is as well as all the details of its construction...

John was acquainted with how large a sea was and had seenthem in his travels..so I can only imagine the glory of what he saw in the details, even those of just simple words like sea to describe the room or glass to put it in perspective with the entire vision and details of the city..to try to convey what he was seeing so we would be able to wrap our minds around it!!

Now thats amazing :hyper.....and indeed God is so faithful as Moses knew so well!:woohoo..I had no clue how much more He has in store for us or how it was connected and why ,any more than Moses who had never read Revelation regarding the place Christ has gone ahead to "prepare for us",that is above and beyond the simple, pure joy of Jesus and what he did for me on that cross,

I was not worried about where or what heaven was beyond simply wanting to be there if that was where He was, again I had no concept of it as a place that God has shared with us in His Word , just a destination that was promised by His Word.... and have been truly blessed by Revelation as was promised. I just want to shout.."how great is our God!":hug

[Sing4Him]

Thank you for your beautiful testimony. :hug

[truthseeker815]

15:2-- This is a picture of those who have triumphed over the Beast. (Tribulation Saints) This is a glimpse of heaven. Worship to God!

Here John sees a march of angels bringing the last wrath of the great Tribulation (3 1/2 yrs end of the 7)

This sea of glass represents the horrible persecution of the beast in the tribulation.

Only those sealed by God will make it through. We see those with harps who have come through this fire-- and we then see them singing.

and to answer your question? (good question BTW!) Rev 20:4-- These are those who were beheaded DURING the tribulaltion. those saints who died.
Sing4Him,I'm puzzled:scratch-please elaborate more on "the sea of glass" representing the "persecution of the beast during the tribulation"-I don't understand the reasoning behind this?Just curious.....

[Sing4Him]

sea of glass mingled with fire --light from the throne of God shimmering with fire as it unfolds the last of the wrath during the tribultion...those who stand on it have perserved and conquered through Jesus Christ.


I should have written persecution BY the beast. clarifying here

[Rondaben]

Just a quick post on this...

In Revelation the seas typically represent people from every nation, tongue and race. Fire here represents the persecution that those who come to faith DURING the tribulation will endure so that they may be refined like gold.

A sea (of people) who were refined (by fire of persecution) and overcame the beast, his mark and his power. They are given a special privilege they have won by their perseverance through the tribulation even unto death.

Thats just my two cents.

[Kliska]

I've always been taught and see the connection between "seas" and a large gathering of people, or a "mass" of people too. The Fire references make sense as well when seen in context.

Note that they are separate from the Church proper, or the bride as represented by John. These form another distinct group; those "saved" after the church age on earth.