Revelation-Part 15
| By: Dr. Robert Thomas; ©2000 |
| Dr. Thomas describes a great celebration that will take place in heaven around the throne. Why (What) will they be celebrating? Who will be there? What will they be doing? |
Contents
THE HEAVENLY THRONE-ROOM, PART 3
In our continued tour of the heavenly Throne-Room last month, we saw a seven-sealed scroll and met the lion of the tribe of Judah who is also the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes (Rev. 5:1-6). One of the twenty-four elders declared Him to be the only one worthy to break the seals and reveal the contents of the scroll. As we continue watching through the eyes of the prophet John, we see the Lamb take the scroll from the right hand of the one seated on the throne (Rev. 5:7), that is, God the Father. That action prompts widespread celebration, first among the four living beings and twenty-four elders (5:8-10), then many angels around the throne join the living beings and elders (5:11-12), and finally every intelligent creature regardless of status adds its song (5:13).
Celebration of the Four Living Beings and Twenty-four Elders (5:8-10)
When the Lamb took the scroll from the Father’s hand, the initial response of the four living beings and the twenty-four elders was to prostrate themselves before the Lamb (Rev. 5:8). They enhance their worship of the Lamb with harps and golden vials full of incense. Incense is a symbol for the sweet fragrance of prayer that God enjoys. The saints whose prayers are in view belong to the future period when saints will become objects of the wrath of the false Christ. The persecuted remnant of that day cries out to God for vindication. They have suffered martyrdom because of their faithfulness to Christ and appear periodically in Revelation praying for God’s judgment against His enemies (e.g., Rev. 6:9-11).
As the twenty-eight singers bowed before the Lamb, they sang a new song to celebrate the Lamb as the redeemer of the saints (Rev. 5:9) just as they celebrated God as the creator in Revelation 4:11. The first word of the song, “worthy,” sums up the theme of the whole song, the same way the song in 4:11 begins. There God’s worthiness derived from His work of creation. Here the Lamb’s worthiness derives from His work of redemption that qualifies Him to receive and open the seven-sealed scroll. Though unstated explicitly at this point but quite clearly throughout Revelation, He is also qualified to exercise divine functions of judgment and sovereignty that are implied in the opening of the scroll.
The singers in their song addressed the Lamb directly with their recognition of His worthiness and gave two reasons for their tribute. (1) The first is His payment of the price of redemption through His sacrificial death at Calvary (5:9b). He was slain as already noted in verse 6 of chapter 5 and as will be noted again in the song of verse 12 of the same chapter. Through that act He purchased for the faithful freedom from sin’s penalty by shedding His blood. The historical background of the New Testament term for redemption is the purchasing of slaves in market places of those early centuries. To believers the Lamb has given freedom from the bondage of sin.
Paul and Peter join with John in writing about this act of liberation. Paul twice writes to the Corinthians, “You were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). To the Galatians he writes, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13). Peter echoes the same theme to his readers: “You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). He also writes about false teachers who deny “the Master who bought them” (2 Pet. 2:1). The blood of Christ paid for redemption even for those who refuse to accept the benefits thus provided.
That redemption is what the four living beings and the twenty-four elders were celebrating in this heavenly scene that John witnessed. The objects of the Lamb’s redemption come from every background: “some from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). God is no respecter of persons.
(2) The second reason for the song celebrating the Lamb’s worthiness is His establishment of a kingdom in which the redeemed ones will function as priests and reign upon the earth (Rev. 5:10). The twenty-eight singers anticipate the return of the Lamb from heaven to earth to establish His worldwide empire and reign as King over it (Rev. 19:11-20:10). At that time those whom He has redeemed will join in ruling with Him.
Some have thought that the twenty-four elders are singing about their own redemption and future rule, and are therefore representative of the church. That opinion has arisen because some manuscripts include the word “us” in verse 9 as the object of the verb “redeemed.” That reading enjoys very weak support, however, and most probably does not represent the original text as John penned it. Besides that fact, the twenty-four elders are not the only ones singing this song. The four living beings are singers too, and no one suggests that those four represent the church or any other group of redeemed human beings.
Celebration Joined by Innumerable Angels (5:11-12)
Characters in the next scene to greet John’s eyes in the Throne Room included not just the four living beings and the twenty-four elders, but “ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands” of angels joined them in the next anthem of praise (5:11). The swelling chorus of voices sang very loudly, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing” (5:12).
Not only is the Lamb worthy to take the seven-sealed scroll and open its seals (5:4-5, 7), but He is also worthy to receive recognition and adoration for a complex of seven capacities and powers He already possesses. “Power” speaks of Christ’s omnipotence and actual use of force while “strength” points more to His ability lying behind that use. “Riches” sum up not only His spiritual wealth, but include also His unconditional wealth in all realms since He is an all-sufficient God. “Wisdom,” also a divine characteristic, is His attribute that shows in the conscious and purposeful creation and government of the world by appointing limits and goals in the accomplishment of His will and in the molding of destiny.
“Honor” is the rightful due of God, earned by Christ through His sacrificial death (cf. Heb. 2:9; Phil. 2:11). It is only one part of the next term, “glory,” which more inclusively speaks of the loftiness and majesty of God and even the being of God or the mode of His being. “Blessing” or, as it could be rendered, “praise” is that quality of the Lamb that evokes thankful responses from human beings for benefits received. It is His intrinsic praiseworthiness.
Heaven’s chorus gives rightful tribute to the Lamb who was slain.
Celebration by All Creatures (5:13-14)
The final anthem of chapter 5 originates with “every creature” and recognizes the worthiness of both the Father and the Lamb (Rev. 5:13). The singers include all intelligent creatures who have an intellectual appreciation of God and the Lamb. “Every creature who is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and upon the sea” attributes “blessing and honor and glory and might” to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb. Eventually even fallen angels and unredeemed humanity will join others in recognizing the preeminent qualities of God and of the Lamb as they focus on this Throne Room.
The first three tributes by this massive chorus are the same as in the list of seven acknowledged for the Lamb in the previous verse. The fourth replaces “strength” of the previous list with “might,” which speaks of active power in contrast to a reserve of secret strength that is expressed by the earlier “strength.”
“Forever and ever” at the end of this third song highlights the endlessness of the blessing and honor and glory and might that belong to the Father and the Lamb. The four living beings close the song with a solemn “amen” of confirmation, and the twenty-four elders terminate the whole series of praise utterances with a silent act of homage (5:14).
A Sobering Thought
People often ask, “What is heaven like?” From the scenes of Revelation 4–5 we learn exactly the nature of the activity there. If such songs of tribute from the lips of heavenly beings and others repeatedly fill that Throne Room, how much more should we mere humans stand in awe of God the Creator and the Lamb the Redeemer and sing to the limit of our ability about all their attributes and accomplishments!
Note: For more details about the songs of the living beings, the elders, the angels, and all creation, see my discussion in Revelation 1–7 (Moody Press, 1992), pages 393-411. To order this volume, you may contact Grace Books International at (800) GRACE15 or www.gbibooks.com.
