Revelation 5:8-14-Worthy Is The Lamb

Praise God

Published on August 6, 2007 By KFC Kickin For Christ In Religion

Moving right along in Revelation to finish off Chapter 5. We are now looking at verses 8-14. Here it is:

8Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,10And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

13And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

So the book is taken by the lamb of God and immediately the 24 elders and the four beasts fall down in thankfulness and adoration. We see two items mentioned in v8. First we see harps used to amplify, aid, exalt and magnify their praise to their Lord. There is nothing quiet and humdrum about praise. There is no room for the silent one here. I never could understand the churches who do away with musical instruments. We see many times in scripture where musical instruments are used as worship aids, as here, in their worship and praise to God.

The other item we see are golden vials or bowls, like saucers. These bowls are filled with incense "thumiama". This is a fragrant powder burnt in religious serveices. He tells us he loves our prayers. He desires our worship and prayer. He desires a relationship with us. Prayer is so important to a Christian in his relationship with the lover of his soul.

Think about this. The elders are holding our prayers as incense as they offer them up to God. This is a pleasing aroma to God. This should instill in us a greater desire for us to pray.

Psalm 33:2-3 says:

Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

Again, no humdrum here either. Did you notice the word "shout?"

Psalm 141:2 says:

Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

So this here in Revelation is nothing new. It's ok to shout and even to lift one's hands to the Lord in worship. Don't look around, look up. Give it to God.

In V9 we see they are singing a song of redemption. A new song is sung because the scroll is taken. Every new act of God's love and mercy deserves a new song. They are singing that only Jesus is worthy. Only Jesus is deserving. Only He can open the seals. Only He can open up God's judgments sealed until the end of time. In this they are in total agreement. Total harmony is seen here. They are united in Christ and there is nothing like total harmony. We've never known it like this. Not on this side of eternity will we ever know what this is like. I look forward to the day when we can all be in such a state.

Why is He worthy? Because "for you were slain and redeemed us to God by your blood. Out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation he has made redemption.

ACTION: His death on the cross
RESULT: Redeemed "agorazo;" to purchase, buy, redeem.
PRICE: Blood-the purchase price

His blood was poured out for us as purchase price for our souls. In the Levitical system it was quite clear that God required a life for atonement for sins.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul." Lev 17:11

Think about the crown of thorns pushed into his scalp; his blood pouring down. His blood coming thru his hands and feet. Think about the spear thrust through his side and understand this was the price He paid for us. We were in debt,. He was willing to make restitution out of His great love for us, but this wouldn't come free to Him. It cost him to redeem us. It cost Him to set us free. It cost Him His life. His life was given. His blood was spilled. Therefore only He is worthy. He paid our price.

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Heb 9:11-12,15

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Cor 6:20

Then John looks. Well it really means he stared at. This is not just a glance. An unbelievable scene is about to break out in heaven. Praise like John's never seen before is about to break out. He can't believe it. Myriads filled heaven. Funny, everything about Christ is loud. Everything about Him is a shout. This is some worship service. Talk about "WOW" worship. This is WOW.

In V12 we see seven items. We see power (dunamis) which is explosive power and where we get our word dynamite from. We see riches (wealth), wisdom, strength, honor (high esteem), glory (doxa) and blessing (eulogia).

All these things are wrapped up in Christ. He is deserving of the highest place of honor and glory. The blessing expressed towards him is for all that He has done.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

In V13 the power here is "kratos" instead of "dunamis" and means dominion. Only He has the right to rule forever. Here we see again, all are in complete harmony. Their harmony is sweet to God's ears. This puts a close to the worship service like no other. In the next chapter we will begin to see what is in the scroll that the lamb of God now holds in His hands. He's about to open them and when He does, the world will never be the same.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6

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Comments

lulapilgrim

on Aug 07, 2007

APoc 5:8 "And when He had opened the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls (vials)full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints:"

Catholic commentary has that as was with the previous image, the vision is explained in conclusion in a hymn. The same thing is happening here; it's a hymn of praise to God, to the Redeemer in 3 parts.

The greatness of Christ the Lamb is duly acknowledged and proclaimed through praise and worship. The first is sung by the circle nearest the Throne, the 4 living creatures, the 24 ancients (elders)the same homage to God, then from all the angels and finally from all of creation v. 11-13.

St.John describes the praise renedered by the Heavenly Church with which the pilgrim CHurch on earth (that would be us)joins through its own prayer (symbolized by the image of the golden bowls). He also describes the way the 2 groups praise together is the same as the Temple in Jerusalem. While the priests offered incense, the Levites, accompanied by stringed insturments sang Psalms.

Just as in the Temple the rising cloud of incense was regarded as a symbol of prayers of the entire people going up to God. This text is the same today in the pilgrim Church which is the "prayers of the Saints". That is, the entire Church and the interpretation here is the 24 elders as representatives of the entire Church at the Throne of God. They stand as priestly role of mediator representing the entire redeemed people of GOd.

lulapilgrim

on Aug 07, 2007

APOC 5:9 "And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy, O Lord, to take the scroll, and to open its seals; because You were slain, and have redeemed us to God in Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,"

They sang a new song (includes the four living creatures, symbols for the four corners of the cosmos), intone the song underlines strongly the cosmic significance beyond mankind of the Redemptive act of Christ Rom. 8:20-23.

They sang a new song in honor of the Lamb. The new song proclaims that Christ decides the destinies of the world and mankind. This is a consequence of Himself being offered in sacrifice as the atoning Victim par excellence.

By shedding His Blood, Christ won for Himself an immense people from every nation; in them a holy people, His chosen ones. When it says they have been ransomed from every tribe and nation, it's pointing out that GOd's salvific plans extend to the whole human race. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth." 1Tim.2:4.

This doesn't exempt us from making an effort to merit salvation. St.Augustine taught God who created you without your cooperation, will not save you without your cooperation."

The Church Fathers write that God will give each one of us the opportunity to be saved--to some in one way--to others in another. But whether we respond depends upon ourselves.

When on this earth will every nation eat together in peace? It might be easy for us to miss the significance of this in the first century when St.John is writing this Book. The answer is now and has been ever since Christ established the Holy Eucharist.

In taking Holy Communion, a Catholic eats with everyone present. We have Catholics from every nation all over the world. Take for example when the Chruch began, Jews observed dietary laws and Gentiles ate unclean foods. Before the Church, these 2 groups never ate together. But Christ could.

He established a new Church kingdom whose sacremental meal was the Holy Eucharist and at this meal are people "from every tribe, and tongue, and people and nation".

lulapilgrim

on Aug 07, 2007

APOC.5:10-12 "And have made us to our God a kingdom and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.”
11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice:

“The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing!”

Please note that because your version is quite different, I've posted these verses according to the Douay Rheims version.

In V12 we see seven items. We see power (dunamis) which is explosive power and where we get our word dynamite from. We see riches (wealth), wisdom, strength, honor (high esteem), glory (doxa) and blessing (eulogia).

All these things are wrapped up in Christ. He is deserving of the highest place of honor and glory. The blessing expressed towards him is for all that He has done.

The countless hosts of angels join in the song of praise of the throne attendants. The host of angels act as a guard of honor proclaiming the sublime perfection of Christ the Lamb. They list 7 attributes which all point to the fact that He has everything that belongs to GOd.

We read of the role of angels once more in heaven, particularly of the worship and praise they offer God before the Throne. Later we will read of their putting God's plans into operation 11:15, 16:17; 22:6, etc. as well as their intercessin with GOd on behalf of mankind. 8: 4.

Both Scripture and the Church's teaching tells us about the existence of angels and their mission to guide and protect us.
Exodus 23:20. "Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Give heed to him and harken to his voice."

The Catechism teaches that by God's providence angels have been entrusted with the office of guarding the human race and of accompanying every human being....God not only deputes angels on particular and private occasions, but also appoints them to take care of us from our very births.

St. Josemaria Escriva tells us to treat him as a lifelong friend for that is what he is and he will render you a thousand services in the ordinary affairs of each day. Have you given your guardian angel a name?

lulapilgrim

on Aug 07, 2007

APOC 5: 13-14 "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“To Him who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb, blessing and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said: “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever."

After the song of the spiritual, invisible creation, there follows a hymn of the material visible world. It differs from the first becasue it puts God and the Lamb on the same level whose Godhead is being proclaimed. This marks the end of the universal, cosmic praise that is rendered to the Lamb.

The emphatic "Amen" of the 4 living creatures and the worship offered by the elders bring this vision to a close. The entire picture presents a prophetic vision of the end which is a goal of the turbulent evolution which is about to be described.

IN such a profound vision all riddles of history are solved, just as the suffering and death of Jesus become first transparent and sensible in the Lamb's ascent on the Throne.

The mystery is contained on the scroll is about to be opened by the breaking of the seals.

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