Revelation 15:4

PLUS
Revelation 15:4
Who shall not fear
Not is emphasized by the double-negation, οὐ μή [ou mē] , followed by the subjunctive aorist φοβηθῆι [phobēthē] , he should fear.1 The fear and reference given to God applies to all , even His own saints (Ps. Ps. 89:7-8). It is His rightful due (Jer. Jer. 10:7). Fear of the LORD is called the “beginning of wisdom” (Ps. Ps. 111:10) because, along with love, it is a vital motivator leading to the obedience of those who seek to please Him. glorify Your name
These who stand on the sea of glass responded to the warning of the first angel in the previous chapter who cried, “Fear God and give glory to Him” (Rev. Rev. 14:7+). The response to God’s mighty works often involves fear and results in glory being given to Him. This was the response of those within Jerusalem in response to the great earthquake at the resurrection of the two witnesses (Rev. Rev. 11:13+).

All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. (Ps. Ps. 86:9-10)

If Israel refused to glorify His name, they would live under a curse (Mal. Mal. 2:2). To attribute glory to His name is to recognize His holy character , for His many names describe His glorious character. Each name is like another facet of a gem, reflecting a unique aspect of Who He is. His name is above all names (Php. Php. 2:9) because His character alone is holy.

You alone are holy
Holy is ὅσιος [hosios] , a term which speaks Heb. 7:1.26).”2 Thus, Isaiah’s seraphim cry with John’s cherubim, “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa. Isa. 6:3 cf. Rev. Rev. 4:8+). He is “the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy” (Isa. Isa. 57:15). Although the term holy denotes purity, it also speaks of uniqueness. Holiness is that which is uniquely God’s, which sets Him apart. It is an attribute which only the Creator truly has. All other creatures which are said to be holy, derived their holiness from their association with God and His righteousness. It is a reflected, secondary holiness, but not essential to their nature apart from God. Another way to express this phrase might be, “You are matchless, incomparable, peerless, unequalled, unparalleled, unrivaled! There is no other like God because He alone is Creator, all else is creature. “So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God’ ” (Luke Luke 18:19). What would this world be like if God had been a capricious and evil personage who took pleasure in wickedness and loved iniquity? We are immensely blessed that He is otherwise (Ps. Ps. 5:4)! all nations shall come and worship before You
Although their declaration is certain, it awaits the future for fulfillment. Then many passages which speak of the entire world acknowledging God and worshiping before Him will be consummated. “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Ps. Ps. 46:10). “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name” (Ps. Ps. 86:9). Aspects of such worship are already underway—He receives worship from many in every nation of the earth today, who offer up prayer as incense before him:

“For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts. (Mal. Mal. 1:11)

But the complete fulfillment awaits Christ’s physical return to rule upon the throne of David.

The conversion of all nations, therefore, shall be when Christ shall come, and not till then; and the first moving cause will be Christ’s manifested judgments preparing all hearts for receiving Christ’s mercy. He shall effect by His presence what we have in vain tried to effect in His absence. The present preaching of the Gospel is gathering out the elect remnant; meanwhile “the mystery of iniquity” is at work, and will at last come to its crisis; then shall judgment descend on the apostates at the harvest-end of this age (Greek , Mtt. Mat. 13:39, Mat. 13:40) when the tares shall be cleared out of the earth, which thenceforward becomes Messiah’s kingdom.3

Their declaration is in agreement with the heavenly chorus which attends the sounding of the seventh trumpet: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. Rev. 11:15+). Although the kingdoms are legally His now, the nations will not willingly bow and worship Him until after His Second Coming. This global worship is finally His at the Millennial Kingdom. Global worship will be centered in Jerusalem at a time when Israel has been restored to prominence among the nations in her relationship to God:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Peoples shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, “Let us continue to go and pray before the LORD, and seek the LORD of hosts. I myself will go also.” Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.’ Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ (Zec. Zec. 8:20-23)

Then, His house will be called “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa. Isa. 56:7; Mark Mark 11:17). Ultimately, in the eternal state “they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it” (Rev. Rev. 21:26+). See The Arrival of God’s Kingdom. For Your judgments have been manifested
These judgments have two results. First, every individual who refuses to turn to God in faith will be removed from the earth. Second, the remainder who see His power and glory manifested in the judgments will respond in faith and be saved. These are the intended results of the Tribulation period when God’s wrath is poured out in the most visible series of judgments ever known to history. “For when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. Isa. 26:9).

Notes

1 “Emphatic negation is indicated by οὐ μή [ou mē] plus the aorist subjunctive or, less frequently, οὐ μή [ou mē] plus the future indicative (e.g., Mtt. Mat. 26:35; Mark Mark 13:31; John John 4:14; John 6:35). This is the strongest way to negate something in Greek.”—Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House and Galaxie Software, 1999, 2002), 466.

2 Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 286.

3 A. R. Fausset, “The Revelation of St. John the Divine,” in Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, 1877), Rev. 15:4.