The Book of Revelation: Part 12

Revelation 5:8-14 (BSB)

The Lamb Exalted

We are in part twelve of our sermon series on the Book of Revelation. Last week, we joined John in his vision of the throne room. He had been weeping because there seemed to be no one who could open the scroll that was held in the right hand of the One seated on the throne, until a Lamb, who had been slain, took the scroll.

Today, we will read what happens next. But, to help picture this scene in our minds, let me first remind you a bit more of what has happened so far. John was given a new vision after the letters to the churches had been told to him. He had looked and seen that a door into Heaven had opened, and he heard a loud voice say, “Come up here.” He sees the throne room of God, and there is “One” who is seated on the throne, who seems to shine a fiery red. In front of the throne is a “sea of glass,” and seven burning torches of fire. Surrounding it are twenty-four other thrones, on which twenty-four elders, dressed in white, with gold crowns on their heads, sat. There were also “four living creatures” who had six wings and were full of eyes all around and within. One was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth like an eagle flying. And in the midst of all of this is the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, who had been slain. The little lamb takes the scroll from the One seated on the throne. And now, let’s read what happens.

Revelation 5:8-14 says:

8 When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 

9 And they sang a new song: 

“Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, 

because You were slain, 

and by Your blood You purchased for God 

those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

10 You have made them to be a kingdom 

and priests to serve our God, 

and they will reign upon the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels encircling the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. And their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. 

12 In a loud voice they were saying: 

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, 

to receive power and riches 

and wisdom and strength 

and honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: 

“To Him who sits on the throne 

and to the Lamb 

be praise and honor and glory and power 

forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Can you picture this scene? Can you imagine hearing the worship? If you say it’s a little difficult, I agree with you. John is describing things that we have never seen before. Most likely, no matter how closely we study this book, our imagination is still not going to accurately capture the scene. But as we study this, we can get closer than if we didn’t take the time to go through this carefully. At the very least, we can undo some of the cultural misconceptions or historical inaccuracies that theologians or artists have dreamt up.

But more than just trying to gain an accurate picture of what was happening, we should remember that this is being told to John so that he can write it down as an “unveiling of Jesus Christ.” Jesus wants all believers to know what has happened, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. And by revealing these things, He reveals more of Himself to us in the process. So, as we go back through this section, now verse by verse, let’s look for what Jesus is revealing about Himself.

The first thing we see about Him is in verse 8. It is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who is “He.” And it says, “When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

Jesus is clearly the Lamb who is slain. I think we can easily picture Him in that form. We’ve all seen lambs, but the four living creatures are probably more difficult to imagine, because their descriptions are ultimately not very clear. One additional thing I want to mention about them is that the word which is translated as “living creature” is the Greek word zoon, and it means, “Living creature, animal, beast.” Outside of Revelation, in other places where this word is used, it is simply translated as animal. In fact, it’s the word from which we get the English word zoo. And even though its Greek origin seems forgotten, “zoo” continues to be the prefix for all animal-related sciences. So, I am prone to think these four are not seraphim or cherubim, and not the same as those who are simply called angels: from John’s perspective, they are some sort of supernatural animal.

Also worth noting is that this specific form of this word is seen 23 times in the New Testament, but the three times it is used in Scripture outside of Revelation it is simply translated as “animals.” For example, in Hebrews 13:11, when speaking of the blood of animals for sacrifice, the word for animals is zoon. Or in 2 Peter 2:12, which says in part, “These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed.” That word for animals is zoon. I think this is why, in older Bible translations like the KJV, this word was translated as “beasts” every time it was used in Revelation, instead of living creature. I don’t know when it was changed to “living creature,” but my guess is that it was changed because later in Revelation, we will see the term “beast” being used for the Greek word therion, and people realized using the same English word for both Greek words was confusing.

I also think it’s important that we note that the third living creature (the third animal) is not necessarily in human form, as some might think. John says that the third had a face that resembled a man. Even though all four have six wings and are covered with eyes, the other three seem to resemble their corresponding animal in their entirety of body because he says the first animal was like a lion, the second like a calf, the fourth like an eagle flying. John doesn’t say the third animal was like a man though; he says the third animal had a face like a man. I think that’s an important distinction. So, was the third also some sort of animal whose face merely resembled a man? It’s hard to say, but I don’t think we should picture a normal human body when we imagine any of this.

What’s important, though, is that the Lamb took the scroll, and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb in worship.

The text also tells us that, as they fell down, “each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” This makes the picture a bit more confusing, doesn’t it?

Somehow the four animals held these things too. Maybe they were hybrid types of animals, like the mythical centaur or griffon? We don’t know, but somehow they held these objects. So did the elders, who are quite easy to picture. They all knelt, each one having a harp and holding bowls full of incense.

Although we should also know that the harp each one holds is not a standard harp as we might picture. Vincent’s Word Study says that the Greek word translated as harp is kitharan, and it is “an instrument unlike our harp as ordinarily constructed. Rather a lute or guitar, to which latter word kithara is etymologically related. Anciently of a triangular shape, with seven strings, afterwards increased to eleven. Josephus says it had ten and was played with a plectrum or small piece of ivory.” Maybe these kitharans were strung around their necks or on a strap on their backs; the text merely says they had them—it doesn’t say they held them in their hands.

As to the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, I think we should imagine that they were burning and fragrant. We see this image of prayer being used in other places in Scripture, too. For example, David prayed in Psalm 141:2, “May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.”

Alexander MacLaren, in his commentary on this Psalm of David, says, “Twice a day the incense was kindled upon [the altar] by a priest, by means of live coals brought from the Altar of Burnt Offering in the Outer Court, and thus kindled, the wreaths of fragrant smoke ascended on high. All day long the incense smouldered upon the altar; twice a day it was kindled into a bright flame.”

I think it’s important that we understand how the tabernacle and the old temples were created to reflect the actual throne room of God. The bowls of incense that were prepared and burned within the temple as an offering to God were representing the bowls of incense in Heaven, which are the prayers of believers. We should be careful that we don’t twist this around and think that these bowls in the throne room in Heaven are symbolizing the incense that was burned in the temple. The temple incense was the metaphor that symbolized the real thing happening in Heaven.

I also want to note that these prayers are not the prayers of people already in Heaven. Even though the text says the incense is the prayers of the saints, it does not mean saints as the Catholic Church thinks of saints. The word translated as saints is the Greek word hagios, and it means, “Holy, sacred, set apart.” So maybe a better way to say this is: the bowls of incense are the prayers of God’s holy people. As Hebrews 10:10 tells us, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of Jesus. So, the bowls of incense are the prayers of us believers, because we have been made holy through Jesus’ forgiveness, but also, as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, helping us to live holy lives, set apart for Jesus. As Romans 1:7 says, we are called to be holy; called to be saints. Or as 1 Peter 1:15-16 encourages us, “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

Have you ever considered that your prayers become incense around the throne of God? Does that thought make you want to pray more? What if you imagined as you prayed, your prayers rising and filling golden bowls, turning into incense before the throne? Would it change how you pray? It’s something to think about.

Back to our text, verses 9-10 say, “And they sang a new song: ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.’”

The four living creatures and the elders sang a new song. What song were they singing before? Revelation 4 tells us they sang, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” and, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.”

Now they sing a “new song.” Barnes’ Notes on the Bible makes a great point about this song being “new.” He says, “We know that the praises of God were celebrated by the angelic choirs when the foundations of the earth were laid (Job 38:7); but the song of redemption was a different song, and is one that would never have been sung there if man had not fallen, and if the Redeemer had not died. This song strikes notes which the other songs do not strike, and refers to glories of the divine character which, but for the work of redemption, would not have been brought into view. In this sense the song was new.”

And this new song tells us why Jesus is worthy to open the scroll. Before, they sang that He is holy and worthy to receive praise because of who He is: He is eternal and He is the Creator of all things. But now, this new song tells us why He is worthy to open the scroll: He is worthy because of what He did.

What is interesting to me is that the book of Revelation never mentions the noun “Cross” by name, but it does speak a lot about the Lamb who was slain, about His blood that has redeemed us, and about Jesus’ death and how He was crucified. And here we see that Jesus is worthy to open the scroll because He was slain.

We know where and when He was slain, and we know He was resurrected, but this song doesn’t go into those details. Instead, it tells us what His blood being shed accomplished. Reading it again, the song says: “By Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Let’s look at each of those things, one at a time. The first is that Jesus’ blood “purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

I think it’s worth noting what this doesn’t say. It doesn’t say that Jesus’ blood purchased from God, but rather, purchased for God or, as other translations say, to God. Why is this significant? I think that if we think that Jesus purchased people from God, we might incorrectly think that Jesus’ death was done in order to appease God’s wrath. The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die on the Cross for our sins. Jesus’ death didn’t make God the Father decide to love us; He already loved us. He loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for our sins, purchasing us for Him.

As Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says, “To God: That is, so that we become his, and are to be henceforward regarded as such; or so that he might possess us as his own. This is the true nature of redemption, that by the price paid we are rescued from the servitude of Satan, and are henceforth to regard ourselves as belonging unto God.”

Or, as Matthew Henry says in his commentary on this verse, “Christ has redeemed His people from the bondage of sin, guilt, and Satan.”

Jesus’ blood has redeemed—has purchased—all people who will have faith in Him. He has redeemed us from bondage to sin so that we can be God’s people. And this redemption that He has accomplished on the Cross is open to all people. It’s not limited or focused on one tribe of people as we see in the Old Testament. This redemption is for people from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” I think by stating those four categories, it’s meant to be complete and all-encompassing.

The second thing this new song says, in verse 10, is that by purchasing people for God, Jesus has “made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, only certain people were allowed to be priests. You had to be male; you had to be born into the tribe of Levi; and you had to, of course, be a part of the kingdom of Israel, which was the name for God’s people and their land. In this new song, we see that those old requirements are gone. Now anybody, from any tribe or people group, by having faith in Jesus, is a part of God’s kingdom, and is a priest within that kingdom serving God.

Each of us who believe are priests. That means that you don’t have to be a pastor to have this title. All who believe in Jesus are priests because all who believe in Jesus have access to God the Father. We all may approach the throne of God. Jesus became our High Priest, so we don’t need some other priest to go to God on our behalf. We can go directly to God. And as priests, we can intercede in prayer for each other and for the world.

This is also nearly identical to what John wrote in his introduction. In Revelation 1:5b-6, he said, “To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” Because of the similarity, it makes me wonder if John had these words from this new song in his mind as he wrote that intro. If only we could hear the notes they sang. Do you think John could remember the melody, too?

What is different in this song, and is not in John’s introduction, is the added line, “and they will reign upon the earth.” As members of God’s Kingdom, and as priests, we will reign upon the earth. We will read more about what this might look like when we get to the end of Revelation.

“Then,” verse 11 says, “I [John] looked, and I heard the voices of many angels encircling the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. And their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.”

In addition to the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, John heard the “voices of many angels encircling the throne.” We know the number of others—it totals 28. So, the number of the angels, he says, “was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.” As Hebrews 12:22 says, the number of angels is innumerable.

This delineation of the myriads of myriads of angels, though, seems to indicate that the living creatures and the elders are not angels. But they are all encircling the throne, and as verse 12 says, “In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’”

In the Benson Commentary, he says, “The seven-fold praise [power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing] answers the seven seals, of which the four former represent all visible, the latter all invisible things made subject to the Lamb.”

Then John adds in verse 13, “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!’”

Just as all visible and invisible things are subject to the Lamb of God, so too will all created things give praise, honor, glory and ascribe power to Jesus forever and ever.

In this verse, when it says, “every creature,” creature is not the word for animal. This time it is the Greek word ktisma, and it means, “Creation, creature.” Really, it means any created thing. John says he heard all creation everywhere giving praise. I don’t think we need to imagine that as literally happening in that moment, but it was what John saw in his vision, though, because it is what will literally happen in the future.

As Philippians 2:9-11 says, quoting from Isaiah 52, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” One day, just as John saw, every single knee and tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Then, after he witnessed the collective praise being given (and he doesn’t say for how long it lasted), verse 14 adds, “And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

That tells us that at some point the elders had probably stood up, maybe during that time of praise and worship, because they fell down again and worshiped again. And as Barnes’ Notes observed, “The living creatures and the elders began the work of praise, and it was proper that it should conclude with them.”

Before we conclude, I want us to think for just a minute about the worship that is going on in the throne room. The living creatures and the elders were worshiping before the Lamb took the scroll, and then when the Lamb took the scroll, everyone’s response was to worship again. They worshiped Him first because He is eternal and He created all things. That was the original song they all sang to worship Him. But this new song was sung to tell why He was worthy to open the scroll, and this was because of what He did by dying on the Cross. I think this distinction may give us a clue as to what this seven-sealed scroll contains. And next week, as we move on to chapter 6, we will learn more about it.

For now, I want us to reflect for a moment more on worship. Let me ask you some questions. When you think of what Jesus did for you on the Cross, what is your response? Is it to fall to your knees in worship? If your response is anything less than that, let me encourage you to press in further to Jesus and ask Him to help you better understand just what He did for us.

Because if we want to have the proper response of worship, we must first draw near to Jesus and realize just what He did for us by humbling Himself, becoming a man, and dying on the Cross to purchase us for God. We must do as MacLaren also said in his commentary about that Psalm of David: “Light the fire in your heart with a coal brought from Christ’s sacrifice, and then it will flame; and only then will love well upwards and desires be set on the things above. The beginning of Christian fervor lies in the habitual realizing as a fact of the great love which ‘loved me and gave itself for me.’ There is no patent way of getting a vivid Christian experience except the old way of clinging close to Jesus Christ the Saviour; and in order to do that, we have to think about Him, as well as to feel about Him, a great deal more than I fear the most of us do.”

If we want to light a fire of love for Jesus in our hearts, so that we will respond rightly to Him and worship Him, we must think about what He did for us on the Cross. When we think about what He did for us, how could we respond with anything but praise and thanksgiving? If your heart is cold to Him, if you fear that you are lukewarm in your faith, then start thinking about the Cross. As MacLaren said, there is no other way to be a true Christian except the old way of clinging close to Jesus Christ the Savior. As we do, our hearts will grow warmer and our faith will begin to grow hotter, and we will leave behind the things that cause us to be lukewarm and apathetic to Him. And then we will respond as those around the throne do: we will fall down and worship.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for Your love for us. Thank You for revealing more of Jesus to us through Your Word. We are in awe of You and Your majesty. And we are humbled as we try to understand Your Word. Your ways are so far beyond what we can imagine correctly. Please help us by Your Holy Spirit to comprehend, not only the things Your Word tells us, but just how great Your love for us is. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.