1Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. 4Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. 5But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. 7He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” 11Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 12And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.” 13And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honour and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” 14And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.
Revelation 5:1-14
Here are our remaining questions:
- Is it significant that it was an elder who told John not to weep?
- Why is so much attention given to the location of ‘people’ around the throne?
- Why is the verb ‘has taken’ in verse 5:7 in the perfect tense?
- Why is it always put as every tribe, language, people and nation?
- Does the order matter?
- What’s with the harps and bowls? I just don’t get it.
- Why is it called a new song when we have been singing those songs for a while now?
- Why does the Lamb receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and praise?
- Is there any significance to the order of these seven attributes?
- How can Jesus have more of any of these seven attributes when he already has all of them?
The astute ones among you may have noticed that I have made some slight changes to the colouring. This is to make things clearer for you by leaving some words in black text, in order to make the highlighted words stand out. We must learn to pay careful attention to everything in the scene depicted in this chapter.
- Have you ever pondered the question I put in the title of this Gem?
- Has it ever occurred to you that we, the people of God, appear to be missing?
- Where are we in this scene?
- Are we indeed missing or are we in fact represented in this wonderful glimpse into heaven that John was given?
I sincerely hope you can find yourself along with the rest of the saints of God.
Rest assured that we, you and I and all your friends and family who are believers, Jesus followers, are most certainly present. Can you point out the elements of the text which give you assurance that you are there? Allow me to explain. “Yes Ian, please explain. You’re making me nervous.”
The thought struck me this morning as I settled in to write this Gem that it could seem the saints of God are missing from this scene. Who are the players?
- The One on the throne (God)
- The Lamb (Jesus)
- The sevenfold Spirit of God (Holy Spirit)
- John
- A strong angel
- Twenty Four Elders
- Four Living Beings
- Thousands and millions of angels
- Every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea
A question for you: Is it not until verse 13 that we finally appear? No! No! A thousand times No! We appear way before that. We are far closer to the throne than appearing in the last glimpse John was given. We are the precious children of God if . . . we have repented and asked forgiveness for trying it our own way . . . taken His yoke upon us and learned of Him. That is became a disciple (a learner) and followed Him . . . even unto death. What is my source for saying this? None other than the imagery of the Twenty Four Elders and the Four Living Beings. The Four Living Beings gained eternal life when they accepted his yoke (the ox). When they ran with Him and didn’t grow weary (the lion). When they fixed their eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith, and soared on eagles’ wings (the eagle). When they received Him and accepted the gift of the righteousness of God in Christ and became a child of God (the man).
Who are the Twenty Four Elders? None other than the heroes of faith from the Old Testament and the heroes and heroines of the New Testament. Cast your mind back to the Gem series I wrote on The Examples of Faith when we explored together Chapter 11 of Hebrews. Do you recall the statement made in the beginning of Hebrews 12?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Hebrews 12:1-2
We are part of the great cloud of witnesses. Oh saints of God, these examples of faith include all those among the seven churches of Revelation who persevered even in the face of death and were willing to lose their lives for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. How many of them caught a glimpse of the open door into heaven and saw Christ giving them a standing ovation like Stephen? All these are represented in John’s vision of the scene in heaven, including YOU! If you have persevered and kept your faith in Christ to the end. If you have not denied Him before men and women, He will not deny you when He stands before the throne in the Heavenly Tabernacle, in the City of God, the New Jerusalem. All the promises Christ made to the saints who were victorious to the end will be yours too.
Now do you see the significance of the first of our questions on the remaining list:
- Is it significant that it was an elder who told John not to weep?
- Why is so much attention given to the location of ‘people’ around the throne?
I can’t say if the one who came up with these questions had all of the above in mind. Most likely not, but I thought to myself “What great questions these are!” Yes indeed it was, is and will be always very significant that one of the twenty four elders told John “stop weeping” . . . “Look to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. It was a fellow believer, one of the elders, who told John to stop weeping and to look at the Lamb. A number of experts suggest that the Four Living Beings are angelic beings by definition. But if you pay careful attention to the text of Revelation, each mention the four living beings are placed in contra-distinction to the angels. That is the four living beings are not part of the angels. Rather they are mentioned in addition to the angels. On the basis of what I have written already in the context of these Gems. Look back at Gem 2227 and 2228 where I unwrapped the difficult image of the Four Living Beings. I believe they fully represent the human believers, as also do the 24 Elders.
Do you also see the significance of the positioning of the ‘people’ around the throne?
Take a careful look at the text above:
The Lamb . . . was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders.
Revelation 5:6
Did you pick up the subtlety?
- The Lamb was standing between the throne and the four living beings and . . .
- The Lamb was standing among the twenty-four elders.
I think the Lamb is standing between the throne and the 4 living beings because He is the mediator between the throne of God on behalf of the believers. But also He stands among the 24 Elders. He is the elder brother who shares in their sufferings and their struggle of life. He is like them because He has experienced what they have experienced. The angels cannot understand the empathy the Lamb has for the believer because they are angels, ministering spirits. It is only right and proper that the Lamb is closest to the representatives of the believers as the first wave of those around the throne.
I would hope you have already seen the ever-expanding nature depicted in this chapter. Did you see the pattern? The worship which flows through Chapter 5 is spreading in waves:
- In the first instance, the four living beings and the twenty four elders worship and sing:
- In the second wave, the voices of a thousand million angels join the 4 living beings and the 24 elders and sing:
- In the third wave, every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and in the sea join with the 28 others and sing:
On each phase of worship, the lyrics of the song they sang is recorded. We will look into a comparison of the songs later.
How awesome! It’s enough to give you goosebumps or tingles down your spine. Does it? Is that what you feel as you read this section? It ought to inspire us to worship. Us more so than the angels. Why? Just look at the words of the first worship song.
“You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:9-10
This is our song. This is the song of the people of God, the Redeemed. Angels can’t sing this song like we can. This is the song that ought to touch our hearts the most. This is the song which starts the heavenly worship service. Someone has called it ‘the beautiful polyphonic heavenly liturgy”. This song is sung by the saints of God who have been redeemed. I’ll bet the nature, volume and harmony of this song was out of this world. Of course it was, it was in heaven. David Pawson has a lot to say about that. [Ask for the story he tells in Chapter Four of his book, Heaven Unveiled in his work – A Commentary on the Book of Revelation. I will send it to you if you are interested.]
But we are not finished yet. Here comes our next question courtesy of another Gem reader.
Why is the verb ‘has taken’ in verse 5:7 in the perfect tense?
Good spotting David (not Pawson). This marks the beginning of the outbreak of praise and worship. Why? When did the Lamb step forward and take the scroll from the hand of the Father. All the saints broke out in heavenly praise and worship. The second verb “He stepped forward1 and took2” is in the perfect tense which I imagine is the reason David asked his question. Why is that the case? The perfect tense in Greek is used when the action took place in the past but the effects of that action continue into the present and the future. The experts debate this grammatical anomaly long and hard.
- Some think the perfect tense marks the high point of the unfolding drama.
- Others label it an historical perfect signifying the scroll is now in the possession of the Lamb.
- Others say the continuing ongoing effect of the perfect tense based on a point of time in the past heightens the moment.
- Others feel the moment of taking the scroll releases the tension and doubt of finding no one worthy and hence the release of spontaneous worship.
You decide what you think. Or alternatively wait until you are present in the scene in Glory and decide then from the mood at the time. Whatever you decide don’t miss the moment. Allow worship to wash over you. Interact with this chapter in any and all ways you are able. The chapter is all about the worship due to the Lamb of God are a result of giving up His life as a sacrifice for us. Realise too that we have not finished yet unpacking the elements of the text which still hold great significance.
Stay connected and keep following this series. I am grateful to those of you who came up with the questions listed above. I was delighted with your questions. It was like you understood some of the depth behind the text which needed to be uncovered. That is exactly the point. Prof Brown was fond of saying. “Class, pay careful attention to every little detail in the text of the Word of God. No line, no word, no nuance is a throwaway. Every word is there for a purpose. Use your puzzlement over any little thing as clues on which to dig. There is always more to find.”
The human race crave the experience of awe and wonder. And there is no reality more breathtaking than Jesus Christ.
John Piper
Whatever holds your awe holds your faith!
Judah Smith
Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second Coming that would not be cut down to size by the televised evening news.
John Updike
I pray you may have a God-inspired glimpse of the grandeur of His Word that leads you to awe and wonder and worship!
Ian
I think I made a mistake in using the quote by Ellis Deibler too soon in the previous Gem; here it is again.
The angels held their breath when God created people, seeing them turn their back on such a God of love.
Ellis Deibler
Repetition is a form of emphasis. Given the context of Revelation Chapter 5, one simply runs out of superlatives.
Ian
Yes please to David Pawson’s work in Chapter 4 of his book.
Done, did you get it? I haven’t heard anything back; just checking.