The glory of Jesus Christ and His kingdom is a recurring them in Scripture. In fact, all who trust in Him for salvation long for the day when they will reign with Him. The hope of the redeemed is to see the promises of God fulfilled in His Son, and their prayers are based on the certainty of that expectation. Indeed, the glory of Christ will be the cause of much rejoicing among the redeemed for eternity. We read in Psalm 145:10-13: All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations (cf. Pss. 148-150). How wonderful for Christians to know that our Lord Jesus has conquered sin and its consequence of death (1 Cor. 15:56-57). He has freed us from that by which Satan has bound humanity since the fall in Eden (Gen. 3; cf. Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13-14). What man lost by disobedience to God s commands our Redeemer has regained for us, that we might exalt Him as our King forever 1
While the world continues in its blind rejection of the truth, God is on schedule with His plan of redemption. This is comforting for the Church of Jesus Christ, since we suffer in this world as representatives of His kingdom. But we do not need to lose heart as we minister His Gospel. We can confidently proclaim God s redemption through the atoning death of Christ, and we can likewise proclaim His judgment on those who reject Him. We can also rejoice in full assurance that glory with our Lord awaits us. That is the wonderful truth found in The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. While it contains much about God s judgment on the unrepentant world, it is an encouragement to the Church for which it is written. Through the pen of the apostle John, we are privy to God s unveiling of the climax of human history. John s vision of the glorified Christ is our comfort in this world as we wait for God to usher in the next. The apostle saw Christ glorified as the Son of Man and Lord of the Church in the first three chapters. Chapter four turned our attention to the throne room of heaven. There we found God the Father and God the Holy Spirit poised for judgment. In addition to some angelic beings proclaiming God s holiness and sovereignty, we also found 24 elders representing the glorified Church Age saints. These declared their utmost allegiance to God, and they worshiped Him for His glory, honor and power. 2
The next scene in heaven to be witnessed by John is the presentation of God the Son found in chapter five. This time, however, He appears in symbolic form as the Lamb of God. He is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the elect the One who has prevailed to open, read and execute the contents of God s title deed to the creation. When he understood that no one from God s creation was worthy to open the scroll and fulfill its purpose, John was fearful that the realization of his hopes for complete redemption may not take place (5:4). He knew that judgment must take place and the creation purged of sin before righteousness can reign. But the Lamb of God is worthy to approach the Father (5:1-3) take the scroll from His hand (v. 7) and break its seven seals (i.e. the sign that its contents were sealed by God Himself). He is worthy both because of His sinless sacrifice and His royal lineage as the greater Son of David (5:5). He is the Lion and the Lamb who alone can redeem the elect and the cursed creation because He is worthy to purge it in judgment. The Lamb s appearance is the highlight of these two chapters and, indeed, of the entire book. He comes to receive His kingdom from the Father and carry our the Father s predetermined will in the path already prepared by the Holy Spirit (5:6). As we continue to see, heaven rejoices in His coronation, and the remainder of chapter five completes the praise initiated in chapter four. 3
Revelation 5:8-10 begins what we can refer to as heaven s song about the Lamb s worthiness. While it is redeemed humanity that actually sings, the angels and all of creation respond in affirmation with worship and rejoicing (vv. 11-14). The song anticipates the completion of God s redemptive plan which is now beginning with the presentation of the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb - Part III (5:8-10) Heaven s Song (vv. 8-14) The Redeemed Sing (vv. 8-10) The Lamb of God has already taken the scroll out of the Father s hand (cf. v. 7). It is His to open and execute. This is the coronation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son is receiving the kingdom from the Father an event which corresponds with Daniel 7:13-14. Now begins the purging of the creation by God s judgment in preparation for the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:1-6). The judgments of chapters 6-19 accomplish this at the hand of Christ to whom all judgment has been committed (Jn. 5:22). The Great White Throne Judgment is the final purging before the eternal state of the kingdom (21:1ff; cf. 2 Pet. 3:10-13). At that time, God becomes all in all (1 Cor. 15:24-28). 4
Heaven has been anticipating this throughout the ages. The fact that God s plans are coming to fruition gives rise to the worship from His holy servants in the throne room. Both the four living [beings] (i.e. the cherubim) and the twenty-four elders (glorified Church Age saints) together fell down before the Lamb. Please note that the same worship offered to the Father in chapter four is now offered to the Son. Jesus Christ is clearly part of the Trinity. At this point, it is best to apply the remainder of this verse and the next only to the elders. Why? The Greek text indicates that each of them possessed a harp, and golden bowls full of incense. This is supported by the fact that the latter is clearly identified as the prayers of the saints. Although holy, heavenly angels are never called saints. Thus, these items reflect why the Church saints worship the Lamb. First, the harp symbolizes the truth of Scripture. In particular, they represent the prophecies of the Old Testament regarding Christ. While frequently associated with worship (e.g. 2 Sam. 6:5; 1 Chron. 15:16-29; Pss. 33:2; 71:22; 92:1-4, etc.), playing of the harp was often the prelude to the prophet s utterances (1 Sam. 10:5; 2 Kings 3:15; 1 Chron. 25:1-7). It is very likely that the harps symbolize the whole of prophetic Scripture the proclamation of future events on God s calendar now being witnessed by John as the Day of the Lord begins. The Church saints rejoice in the fulfillment of Scripture 5
Secondly, the golden bowls filled with incense clearly represent the pure and continual prayers of intercession made by God s holy people (i.e. the saints ). In other words, they are prayers made in accordance with God s will as revealed in Scripture (1 Jn. 5:14-15). The bowls (a.k.a. censers ; cf. Rev. 8:3-4) correspond to those used by the priests as they ministered before God in the ancient Israelite tabernacle and temple; it was there that the priests interceded for Israel as the people prayed outside. Incense was burned twice daily on the Altar of Incense to symbolize the prayers made to the Lord (cf. Ex. 30:1-7; 37:25-29). The bowls and incense used in this ministry appear to be in view here (cf. Ps. 141:1-2; Lk. 1:9-10). The elders represent the saints of all the ages. So here the proclamations of Scripture and the prayers of the saints have, in God s providence, merged to accomplish His sovereign purpose. What was foretold in prophecy of the coming Christ and His kingdom has occupied the prayers of the redeemed. God has thus chosen to respond to their prayers and bring His plan and purpose to fruition (1 Tim. 2:1-7). Thus the sovereign will of God effects human will upon which Lord acts to produce eternal results. God s will providentially worked into human history results in coronation of His Christ to establish His everlasting kingdom. 6
The Lamb has now stepped forward at the appointed time to conclude the plan of redemption, and this moves the elders to sing of God s salvation. As they bring the prayers of the saints before God, they are singing a new song (v. 9) about God s redemption of men. It is new in that it is sung only by the redeemed about the new life in Christ (Jn. 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17). It is a song which anticipates the fullness of eternal life. This is, of course, about to be realized as the Lamb opens the scroll and brings human history to its close purging the creation of sin and establishing everlasting righteousness in the kingdom. Once again, the angels are not in view here. Why? Because angelic beings are nowhere definitively found in Scripture to ever sing (cf. Job 38:7), nor do they personally know anything of redemption (cf. Eph. 3:10; 1 Pet. 1:12). The fallen angels are doomed to eternal destruction (Jude 6; Rev. 20:7-10), and the holy angels are confirmed in their original, glorious state. They do loudly proclaim and affirm God s holiness and His praises (Rev. 5:12), but their participation in this heavenly chorus is evidently not with music of their own. What the elders sing is exclusively the personal testimony of those redeemed out of fallen humanity. They sing of why the Lamb of God is worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals (v. 9). It is about why He is the Lamb the sinless, atoning sacrifice of God s elect remnant (cf. Eph. 1:3-14). 7
Quite simply, they sing the wonderful message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They sing of His sacrifice ( You were slain ), and they sing of what that sacrifice accomplished ( redeemed us to God by Your blood ). The sinless life of Christ made Him fit as our substitute to experience the full wrath of God for our sins (2 Cor. 5:21). As the apostle Peter puts it, Christ Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree (i.e. the cross), that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness by whose stripes you were healed (1 Pet. 2:24). Christ has, in essence, purchased (i.e. redeemed ; Gr. - agorazo ) those who were slaves of sin. He has paid the price of death to satisfy the demand of God s law, which is that all sinners must die. Those who trust in Him are, therefore, purchased to be God s slaves (Rom. 6:7-23; 1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). He has bought them out of every tribe (i.e. family) and tongue (i.e. language) and people (i.e. ethnic group) and nation (i.e. culture). This terminology is repeated in various order several times in the book to identify people from every facet of humanity (Rev. 7:9; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6). In other words, the elect are redeemed by God for His eternal purpose. He shows no partiality to anyone in His dealings with man (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6; Eph. 6:9). 8
Those the Lamb has redeemed will ultimately be glorified with Him in His kingdom (Rom. 8:28-30). The song concludes in verse 10 as the elders sing of all the redeemed from every age in human history. It would seem best to translate it in this way: And have made [them a kingdom] and priests to our God; And [they] shall reign on the earth. This is the end result of God s redemption of the elect. All the saints occupy a place of service in the kingdom of God. We are priests who have unhindered fellowship with Him (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). We will righteously minister before Him in the thousand year reign executing judgment on any rebellion among men (Rev. 20:4-6; cf. Dan. 7:22; 1 Cor. 6:2). We will likewise reign victorious with our Lord in the glorious eternity of His new creation of the heavens and earth where only righteousness will exist (cf. 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-22:5). Do you joyfully anticipate the glory of Christ s kingdom? Do you pray that God will bring to pass all that He has promised? Do you know why the Lamb of God is worthy of the praise of His saints? Can you sing the new song of the redeemed? 9