11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! 13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on 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, for ever and ever!” 14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. ~ Revelation 5:11-14
This is clearly the basis for Handel's closing choruses in his oratorio The Messiah. It closes with one of the most beautiful musical numbers ever written, "Worthy is the Lamb." At the end of it everyone in the chorus joins in a repeated declaration, "Amen, Amen, Amen." It is a moving presentation, and the closest thing we have on earth to the scene described here. You will recognize that this is the same scene that is presented by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians. He says, "He who was equal with God thought it not a robbery to lay aside the manifestations of deity and to take upon himself the form of a servant and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," (Philippians 2:6-8). Because he was obedient unto death: "God has highly exalted him and given him the Name that is above every other name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth [the same divisions John sees], and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," (Philippians 2:9-11). That is the worship of the entire universe: Everyone -- not only those in heaven and those left yet upon earth, but those under the earth (a reference to those who have already died, including those who die in unbelief and are found in hell) -- heaven and earth and hell together unite in acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus. Some will gladly confess it because they have understood and appropriated the death of Christ for themselves. Others will reluctantly acknowledge that he is indeed Lord. Many who today scoff at the Scriptures, who deride the Bible and defy the moral standards of God, will at last admit they are wrong and their life has been wasted. They have followed a will-o'-the-wisp, an illusion, a fantasy all their life. But at last the illusions are taken away and all creation acknowledges the Lordship of Christ. John sees this in vision. It has not yet occurred on earth -- but it will!
When the seven-sealed scroll is fully opened, heaven and earth will join in this acknowledgment. That is the goal of all history. Every historic event for these many centuries is related to and moves toward that final goal of history. It forces the question each must face. Everyone in this room will be involved in this worship, but the question will be, "Which group will you be with?" Will you stand with those who gladly confess the Lordship of Jesus, or will you be with those who reluctantly acknowledge that he is right and they are wrong? Only you can answer that question!
“And aren’t all of the angels included down in verse 11 of chapter 5?” Yes. Many angels and many angels joining the oratorio in verse 12: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” And then in verse 14; and there you have the four living cherubim beings who keep saying, “Amen.”
Yes, the angels are there. Yes, the cherubim are in the oratorio. Yes, they’re in the song of redemption. But, most interesting, this is the only use of the word “sing” in chapter 4 or 5. Every time it talks about the four living creatures, or the rest of the angels, it uses the word “say,” not the word “sing.” Somebody suggested that only the twenty-four elders sing and the angels are in to rap. If they are, it will be a whole lot different than what we hear today. But it is the only use of the word “sing,” which fascinates me.
Every time the angels are spoken of as engaging in this oratorio of praise, it refers to them as “saying.” Here, adousin means “to sing” an ōdē, from which we get an ode, which is a song, means “a song.” And the elders adousin ōdē, they sang a song.
Again, I say it’s fine to speak of all the angels enjoying this song of redemption. But specifically to speak of angels singing you would have to include them then in the “they” of verse 9; and it’s best to limit that to the twenty-four elders.
You say, “Well, now wait a minute. Angels sing. We know that, because the Bible says, ‘Hark, the herald angels sing.’” Where is that verse? That’s not a verse of the Bible; that’s a song, that’s a hymn, “Hark the herald angels sing.” There’s nothing in the Bible that says the angels sing.
And Job 38:7 says that at creation the morning stars sang together. That could be a reference to angels; and it’s very possible that they might have sung at creation. But never again does Scripture say angels sing. Some have suggested that maybe they did sing before creation, and once the fall came they didn’t sing anymore. And maybe they should be included here in verse 9, because now that the fall is about to be reversed, they’re ready to sing again.
If you go back to Luke chapter 2 and remember the birth of Christ, you will remember that Scripture says this: “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, and saying.”
Always the redeemed sing. We can’t say for sure that at creation when the morning stars sang together that it did mean the angels were singing, or that their song was a song like our song – it may have been. We can’t say specifically here that this excludes the angels. It’s possible now that they have gotten their song back, because they can see the reverse of the curse. But those would be the only two allusions in all of holy Scripture about angels singing. If they sing, then it’s before the fall and in anticipation of the reverse of the fall, and not in the middle. The redeemed sing, God’s blood-washed children sing; but angels don’t sing in Scripture.
Dr. Criswell writes, “Music is made up of major chords and minor chords. The minor chords speak of the wretchedness, death, and sorrow of the fallen creation. Most of nature moans and groans in a plaintive and minor key. The sound of the wind through the forest, the sound of the storm, the sound of the wind around the house is always in a minor key; it wails. The sound of the ocean moans in its restlessness; it is speechless trouble. Even the nightingale’s song, the sweetest song of the birds, is the saddest.
“Most of the sounds of nature are in a minor key. It reflects the wretchedness, the despair, the hurt, the agony, the travail of the fallen creation. But an angel knows nothing about that. An angel knows nothing of the wretchedness, nothing of the despair, nothing of the fall of the lost race.
“The major key and the major chords are chords of triumph and victory. Surely, God has taken us out of the miry clay, He has taken us out of the horrible pit, He has set our feet upon the rock; and He’s put a new song in our souls, and new praises on our lips. But an angel knows nothing of this. An angel has never been redeemed. An angel has never been saved. An angel has never fallen and been brought back to God. That’s the only reason that I find as to why angels never sing, it is God’s people who sing.
“That’s why the redeemed sing” – he writes – “and the angels just speak about it. They see it, they watch it, but they know nothing about it personally. It takes a lost and fallen man who has been brought back to God, who has been forgiven of his sin, who has been redeemed. It takes a saved soul to sing.” End quote.
I think there’s some truth in that. The Bible is filled with indications that the redeemed sing, and no indications specifically that the angels sing.
And so the twenty-four elders most likely sing this new song. It’s a new day, and it’s a song of redemption. It’s a song that they know personally, because they have been redeemed. They are joined by the four living creatures, for sure. And in whatever way angels express themselves by saying, or if they at this particular time learn how to sing as they once did, in either case, they join them for this glorious, final thrust of music that finds its way all the way down to the end of the chapter.
It’s a new song. Please note that. They sang a new song. I wish we had the time to go through the book of Psalms and see all the places it talks about new song, more places than new life, more than a new creation, new anything is new song; because redemption brings a song. Psalm 33, Psalm 40, Psalm 96, Psalm 91, Psalm 144, Psalm 149, and elsewhere. When God saves somebody, it brings a new song. And here is even a new, new song, as they anticipate the final, full, glorious redemption.
Chapter 14 and verse 3 again says, “They sang a new song before the throne and before the living beings and the elders; and no one could learn this song except one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.”
There’s another new song from another new redeemed group. There was a new song for those redeemed in the Old Testament. There’s a new song here for those redeemed in the church age. And there’s a new song for those redeemed out of the tribulation who are led by the one hundred and forty-four thousand. They’re just new songs of redemption popping up through redemptive history. And I believe this is primarily the song of the redeemed represented by the elders, but it’s joined by the angels.
Isaiah 42, by the way, seems to be talking about that same song. Isaiah 42:9 through 13, I just need to read it. We’re not getting too far too fast here, but you need to see this.
Isaiah 42:9, “Now behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing His praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands and those that dwell on them! Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, the settlements where Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud. Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise and the coastlands. The Lord will go forth like a warrior, and He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout; yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.”
And this seems to be at the very time when Messiah comes in judgment. So that is maybe even a part of this song, the apocalyptic coming of the Lord to take over and to conquer, to redeem the universe, and the final redemption of man; for the kingdom becomes the theme of the new song.
The song says this, and I know you know these words: “Worthy art Thou to take the book” – or the scroll – “and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
“Worthy art Thou to take the scroll.” Who is worthy? The Lamb, who is the Lion, who is the Root of David, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
“You are worthy. You have the right. You have the inherent right, because You are God. You have the earned right, because You have overcome the enemy. You have the power. You are God’s heir. You are God’s right arm. And so You have the worthiness to take the scroll and break its seals.” That means to enact what is written in it by way of judgment to take back the universe. It’s as if the world is captive to Satan, and Christ reveals step by step by breaking the seals the battle plan by which He conquers the universe, and banishes Satan.
Why is He worthy? “For Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
You see, whoever was going to be the king of the earth, whoever was going to be the monarch of the universe, whoever was going to be the heir of God had to be slain. The law required the slaying of a perfect, blameless, spotless lamb; and it was Him.
Back in verse 6, He was the Lamb standing, who had been slaughtered. It was the sacrificial substitutionary death of Jesus Christ as a lamb on the cross of Calvary that made Him worthy to take the scroll. Why? Because in that death He redeemed sinners. Look at it: “And did purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
“You have a right to redeem Your own, You bought them. You have a right to redeem the universe, You made it. You purchased for God with Your blood,” – agorazō, “to buy out of the marketplace” – “You paid the full price.” The background of this rich imagery is the buying of slaves from the marketplace, and setting them free. Someone who is philanthropic would go into the marketplace and spend a fortune buying slaves that were there, and then just turning them free.
At the cross, the Lord Jesus paid the price to buy the slaves of sin with His own blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and set them free. He bought them from the slavery of sin, and redeemed them to become saints to God for His service and for His worship. He redeemed them from sin and death and hell and Satan and demons to make them saints to God who share God’s glory. And the price; His life. “You were slaughtered. You were slaughtered.”
I have to add another note here. Some translations include in verse 9 the word “us.” “Worthy art Thou to take the book” – or the scroll – “and to break its seals, for Thou wast slain and did purchase us, us.” “Redeemed us to God by Your blood,” says, for example, the New King James Version.
There is strong manuscript evidence in the ancient manuscripts for including the word “us.” The majority of manuscripts, both early manuscripts and late manuscripts, include “us.” And it makes sense in the context, since back in verses 5 and 6 it is the elders who are singing the song.
I think it is their song. It is the song of the redeemed. As I said, the angels may be in the background joining in somehow; but the ones with the harps and the ones with the bowls and the ones who sing the new song of redemption are the elders. And it’s appropriate then to include from the context standpoint “us,” because they’re saying “You purchased us. You redeemed us to God by Your blood.”
If that indeed is the case, and if the majority of manuscripts are right, even though the New American Standard doesn’t include it, if the rest are right, it strengthens the idea that the twenty-four elders indeed represent the raptured church; and that, of course, would strengthen a pretribulation rapture. Angels have never experienced redemption, so the angels can’t sing, “You’ve redeemed us.”
The extent of the redemption then is given, verse 9, “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” And I think all that’s trying to say is, “from everywhere, from everywhere.” And the Greek is ek; it means “out of.” “You have redeemed us out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Out from within, all of these different groups the redeemed have come.
Jesus Christ shed His blood for the whole world. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” The assumption is, if He loved the world and gave His Son, He gave His Son for the world He loved, which means the sacrifice of Christ was sufficient for the whole world. He provided a universal redemption, but only some enjoy its reality, “some out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” This isn’t a universalist statement that He has redeemed every tribe and tongue and people and nation. No, “out from” everyone.
These four terms, “every tribe and tongue and people and nation,” occur five times in Revelation, and they always refer to all of humanity, just a general sense of all of humanity. Out from all of humanity God, through Christ, has redeemed souls. “Tribe” indicates the same descent. “Tongue” indicates the same language. “People” indicates the same race. And “nation” indicates the same culture. So people from every descent and every language and every race and every culture have been redeemed. From out of every lineage and out of every language and out of every race and out of every culture the Lord has redeemed us.
Now can you imagine what this meant to John? You understand that when John gets this revelation, he’s on the Isle of Patmos. The church is a little over fifty years old; the church has been battered and abused and slaughtered. His friends, the apostles, have died as martyrs; he is in exile. He might well conclude that things were disastrous. He has just received seven letters, five of which indicated the churches that were the primary churches in the development and expansion of Christianity had defected from the faith. And it might well have been in his mind a reality that, “The way this deal is going, by the time we get to the end there won’t be any redeemed people.”
I mean, there were those euphoric days at Pentecost when three thousand were saved and five thousand were added, and the church exploded and filled Jerusalem with its doctrine. And there were those wonderful days of the apostle Paul planting churches. And then there was the end of the life of Paul, and near the end he said, “Everyone in Asia has turned away from me.” And churches had lost their first love, and compromised with the world, and tolerated sin, and become dead and nauseating.
Can you imagine the wonderful, thrilling exhilaration of John as he hears the twenty-four elders saying through this new song in melody and word that there will be a gathering together of redeemed people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation on the globe? And at this time, Christianity is just in a little place. What hope, what thrill, what joy must have entered his heart.
And then verse 10 adds the result of such redemption: “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
The word “them” is interesting to note. Why not “us”? Well, I don’t know. “Thou hast made us.” Maybe because that’s a little too narrow. Now you’ve got to include more than just the twenty-four elders who are the saints of the church age, raptured and redeemed; you’ve got to include all of the Old Testament saints, all of the tribulation saints. They will all be kings and priests to our God, and reign upon the earth. And so he uses the third person, because of the vastness of the final comprehensive redemption.
What is the goal and the outcome of this redemption? We have been made a kingdom and priests to our God, a kingdom and priests to our God. Something noted, by the way, in chapter 1 verse 6; and also in chapter 20, verse 6. We are a kingdom and priest.
What is a kingdom? A community of saints under sovereign rule. He is our King. We’re not part of a kingdom, we are a kingdom. We are royalty under the great King. We share His blood, as it were; we share His royalty. We are joint heirs. We’re not part of a kingdom, we are a kingdom. In fact, He is a King, and we’re all kings, and we all reign with Him.
Maybe the Corinthians got the message messed up, but they at least had it in a small capsule. First Corinthians 4:8, Paul sarcastically says, “You’re already filled, you’ve already become rich, you have become kings without us. I would indeed you had become kings.”
He had probably told them, “The day’s coming when we’re going to be kings. We’re going to be a kingdom of kings.” And they thought they had already arrived. He sarcastically reminds them they hadn’t. But they would.
The end of chapter 3 verse 21 in Revelation, “All believers are granted to sit down with Me on My throne.” We will be a kingdom of kings, and we will reign over the earth. We will be royalty forever, reigning with our ruling Christ on the earth, and reigning throughout eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.
And then he adds, “and priests to our God.” We will be priests as well. That signifies complete access to God’s presence. The priests had complete access to God’s presence, for worship, for praise, for service. We will be royalty, and we will be priesthood.
We even now are priests. First Peter 2:5 and 9 tells us we are priests unto God. That’s anticipatory of our future priesthood, when we have total access, perfect communion with God.
So we are redeemed, and the twenty-four elders are singing a new song. And they’re singing, “You’re now worthy to take the book and to break its seals. You died, You were slaughtered, and You paid the price; and You purchased us with Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And You’ve gathered all the redeemed, and You’ve made them to be a kingdom of kings and priests with eternal access and communion to God, who will reign on the earth.” This is the song of the twenty-four elders.
For the fourth time in the chapter, John says he saw something, verse 11: “And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living beings and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads,” – that’s a little hard to add – “and thousands of thousands.”
“I looked,” – a vision; he had a vision in a vision – “and I heard, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne.” And now the thing is beginning to crescendo to the voices of the four living creatures saying what they were saying; are added the twenty-four elders, are added the harps; and now an innumerable number of angels surround the throne where God and the Lamb are present.
And the number is beyond calculation. It says “myriads of myriads.” That’s murion in the Greek. Murion times murion. It basically means ten thousand times ten thousand.
You see, ten thousand was the largest Greek number that had a word for it. They didn’t have words for million and so forth, because they didn’t count anything that went that high. And all they had was ten thousand as a word in their vocabulary. So when they wanted to talk about an innumerable number they said ten thousand times ten thousand – which I think makes a hundred million – and thousands and thousands plus however many. By the way, murion in Luke 12:1 and in Hebrews 12:22 is translated “innumerable.” They were uncountable; millions of them.
And they join the praise, verse 12. Now notice, when the angels come in, does it say they sang? What does it say? “They say with a loud voice.” And this leads me to assume then that they’re still not singing, and maybe they never do.
“Saying with a loud voice.” God likes everything loud. Have you noticed that? He likes everything loud. I hear people say, “Oh I don’t like the music, it’s too loud.” Listen, sister. Wait till you get to heaven. You ain’t heard nothing yet until you hear millions of voices singing loud. You haven’t any reason to complain.”
Verse 12: “Saying with a loud voice.” And this is an interesting thought: they can only echo the song of redemption. They can’t initiate it, it’s not their song. Back in chapter 4 they can say, “Holy, holy, holy.” And they can say, “Worthy are You, our Lord, to receive glory and honor.” They can glorify God. But they can’t sing the song of redemption. They can’t invent it, they can only echo it. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
In Psalm 33:3 they sang loud. In Psalm 98:4 they were supposed to sing loud. And here they are loud. This time they’re saying loudly in an angelic doxology, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.”
Please remind yourself again that the emphasis is on His death as a perfect redemption, and so He must be given worship and praise and adoration. “He is worthy because He was slain, to be given power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And I read that, and I say, you know, this is one of those things that’s such an unbelievable doxology, it almost defies exposition; you almost don’t want to touch it.
But for men and angels, He is worthy to receive all this praise. He is worthy to receive recognition because of His power, His omnipotence. He is worthy to receive recognition because of His riches, His spiritual wealth, His material wealth; He owns everything. He is worthy to receive praise because of His wisdom. He is omniscient. He made wisdom wisdom. He is worthy to receive recognition and praise because of His might or His strength, His reserve of power. In the Greek it’s ischun. He is worthy to receive honor because of His holy character. He is worthy to receive glory or a recognition of His divine majesty and heavenly radiance. And He is worthy to receive blessing because of His absolute perfection.
“You are to receive an accolade for Your power, an accolade for Your riches and Your wisdom and Your might and Your honor and Your glory, and the tremendous blessing that flows from You.” Those are seven qualities true of the Lamb and true of God. And they are intrinsic to the person of God and the person of the Lamb. He doesn’t have to receive them, He is them. They aren’t given to Him, they are Him. And all we can do is praise Him for what He is. All this greatness the Lamb possesses; and He is worthy.
And so, you have an innumerable number of angels, plus the living ones, the twenty-four elders. And then in verse 13 the whole creation joins: “And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them.”
You read that somebody will inevitably say, “What does that include?” What does that include? Did you read that? It includes every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them.
Do you want me to explain that? Why would I explain an absolutely all-inclusive statement? There’s nothing left out. You’d better ask, “What doesn’t that include?” And the answer is nothing. I mean, I’m sure it’s everything from angels and men to frogs and gophers. I say frogs because they’re in the water, and gophers because they’re under the earth. Every being, the whole creation has been groaning, Romans 8 says, and now it explodes in praise. The whole created universe is now on the brink of its anticipated glory.
And the final fifth piece of this praise hymn to God and the Lamb is very brief. And they aren’t singing. “All these other beings say,” – because singing, as I said, belongs to the redeemed – ‘To Him who sits on the throne,” – that’s God – “and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” Endless blessing, endless honor, endless praise, endless glory, endless worship to God, to Christ. The whole universe chimes in. What a moment.
They’re all so ecstatic because it’s going to happen. The curse is reversed. And the kingdom comes, and God will reign. And those four cherubim constitute the amen corner. Verse 14: “And the four living creatures kept saying, ‘Amen. Amen. Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.”
“Amen” is a solemn confirmation. It means “let it be, let it be, let it be,” “make it happen, make it happen.” And they say it over and over and over and over. And the twenty-four elders make a fresh prostration in worship of God and the Lamb. And soon, in fact, very soon, this great assembly will march out of heaven to execute judgment, to gather the elect, to return with Christ and set up His kingdom. The stage is set.
Father, thank You for this wonderful study tonight, this great chapter. We are in awe of it. And we can only say with those cherubim, “Amen, amen, amen, amen.” Over and over we say it, “Let it happen, let it happen, let it come.” For we groan waiting for the glorious manifestation of the sons of God, and all creation groans in travail, until the time of its release from the curse.
We know, as we said at the very beginning, that we could be near the end. We have no fear of that. We rejoice. We sing praise. We understand the glory and the joy. We understand the happiness of heaven in anticipation of the King coming.
