Revelation 15:4

4 1Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are 2holy. 3All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."

Revelation 15:4 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 15:4

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord
At this time the people of the Jews shall seek after Christ, and fear him and his goodness; the forces of the Gentiles shall be brought into Zion, whose heart shall then fear, and be enlarged; the fear of the Lord will be in all places, and in all men, both Jews and Gentiles, ( Hosea 3:5 ) ( Isaiah 60:5 )

and glorify thy name?
by ascribing all divine perfections to him, giving him divine worship and adoration, and attributing the whole of salvation to him, and the glory of all that is done for his church, and against its enemies:

for thou only art holy;
not only perfectly holy, as man, but infinitely and essentially holy, as God, and the fountain of holiness to his people, as Mediator: this character seems to be given in opposition to antichrist, who arrogantly assumes the title of holiness to himself, when it only belongs to Christ.

For all nations shall come and worship before thee;
the Gospel shall now be preached to all nations, and the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of it; the kingdoms of this world will become Christ's, and his kingdom shall be to the ends of the earth, and all people shall obey him: the words seem to be taken, with some other phrases before used, out of ( Psalms 86:8-10 )

for thy judgments are made manifest;
or "thy justifications", or "righteousnesses"; the perfect righteousness of Christ, and the doctrine of justification by it, will now be most clearly revealed, and generally received, in opposition to the Popish doctrine of merits, works of supererogation or the judgments of the King of saints upon antichrist, who will now avenge their blood, which he has shed; see ( Revelation 17:1 ) ( 19:2 ) and the justice and righteousness of his proceedings against the man of sin will be notorious and manifest to all, and be acknowledged, as in ( Revelation 16:5 Revelation 16:6 ) ( Revelation 19:1 Revelation 19:2 ) .

Revelation 15:4 In-Context

2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire--and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.
3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Revelation 14:7; Malachi 2:2
  • 2. Revelation 16:5; Hebrews 7:26
  • 3. See Psalms 86:9
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.