Revelation  ◦   Chapter 15

1In my vision, I saw another amazing panoramic scene in the sky: Seven angels holding the seven last plagues–"last" because when these are released, God will have ceased all intercession on earth.2But the healed need not worry; for I saw what appeared to be a great crystal plane reflecting the fiery presence of God, and standing beside the crystal plane were those who had been healed. They were victorious over the beastly methods of coercion and deceit, and had rejected the distorted image of God–the image of a punishing god. They were not numbered among those who were marked with the beast’s character and methods permanently seared into their hearts. They held harps–symbolic of their Christlike characters–given them by God,3and their lives were living songs of loving transformation. They sang the song of Moses–the spokesperson of God–and the song of Jesus the Lamb:

"Overwhelming and incredible are your achievements, Lord God Almighty! Right and true are your methods, King of eternity!
4Who will not be in awe of you, O Lord, and not glorify your character and methods of love? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and acknowledge you as worthy, for your righteousness, perfection and character have been revealed."

5After I saw this, I looked and saw the temple in heaven–the tabernacle constructed of living stones whose lives give testimony to the truth about God. It was open.6Out of the assembled temple came seven angels with the seven last plagues. They were wearing clean, shining linen, symbolic of their perfect unity with Christ, and had golden sashes around their chests, symbolic of God's character and methods of love filling their hearts.7Then one of the four living beings gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the heartbreaking disengagement of God who is the source of all life. The gold bowls are symbolic of God's stepwise release of those who choose to be separate from him.8And the temple was filled with the truth about God and his methods of love, truth, and freedom; and no other idea, concern or issue could enter the minds of God’s intelligent beings (the living stones of God’s temple) until the final seven-step release of God’s restraint–which allows Satan increasing freedom to act on earth, symbolized by the seven plagues from the seven angels–was complete.