Revelation 5:11-14: The End Ahead of Us
Today we conclude our series in Revelation 4 and 5. These are such beautiful and overwhelming chapters that we could probably turn around and start all over again, continuing for the rest of our lives to find new and more wonderful things here. But all things must end. Or is “all things” saying too much? Let’s see.
In the previous post, we saw the elders and the four living creatures sing a new song to the Lamb. He has taken the scroll and begun to reign. In a sense, their song and their worship is contagious, and it begins to spiral out. A wave of joy and worship ripples throughout all creation like a tsunami, and it is picking up speed with the voices of the angels:
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
It is as if the angels have been instructed in the great truths of the gospel (1) and they add their voices with somewhat of a chorus. There is an innumerable assembly of angels raising a loud, unified (though perhaps harmonic?) voice in a song of the Lamb. Though they themselves have not been recipients of the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they recognize the wonder of it! The Son was slain for guilty sinners. The mercy and provision God has poured out on this people is astounding and the angels’ attention is centered on the Lamb upon the throne. For he is worthy of this seven-fold doxology.
The wave continues.
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 blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
All of creation has entered into the worship of the one on the throne and the Lamb. The entire universe is rejoicing at the redemption that is found in the Lamb. Perhaps what we are seeing is the culmination of all things and the fulfillment of the promise that the glory of God would fill all of creation. It would seem that John is being given a vision of where everything is headed. The gospel of the King has reached every corner of the created order, all things have been reconciled, and he has ushered in the New Creation in its fullness. The creation itself has been released from its bondage and it no longer groans in agony (Romans 8). Instead, the whole universe cries out in joy.
Just exactly how loud is this worship service? This is standing room only and there is no one that is not joining their voice to the songs. This is worship like we haven’t yet experienced. Though this may be the case, let me suggest three lines of thought for further reflection.
We Participate in This Worship Here on Earth
When we gather together on Sundays in corporate worship, in a sense we are taken up into heaven where true worship takes place. We join in the assembly of the firstborn, the innumerable angels, and we are led in worship by the Mediator, our Jesus. (See Hebrews 12:22-24). We worship the one upon the throne and the Lamb. We are the ones whom the Lamb has brought to himself and given us life in him. He has lived for us, died for us and was raised from the dead for us. And we have been brought into this heavenly throne room, where we join in with the Church Triumphant that has gone before us, who are now experiencing unspeakable joy and rest. This is how special Sundays are for the people of God. We are gathered together for a feast, where our Lord meets with us by the power of his Spirit, and we experience a foretaste of the joy and rest that is to be ours in its fullness at the right time.
We Are Missing This Worship at the Moment
In the Lord’s providence, this is our lot for now. This is also heartbreaking. We cannot experience this worship. This does not mean that we are cut off from the Lord or his promises, or that we don’t have some form of family and personal worship. But we are unable to gather together for this grand foretaste, and no amount or version of live-streaming will ever come close to providing a substitute. So part of me reads this passage with a twinge of godly envy.
I remember a question asked at an evening service not too long ago: “What makes you long for the New Heavens and the New Earth?” At that time, perhaps we never considered that we would not be able to participate in the regular corporate worship of our God. But reading about where all of this is headed, and realizing that, at this moment, we do not even get to experience a foretaste of it in that corporate gathering, gives me a greater longing for its fullness to come. This leads to my final thought.
We Are Anticipating This Worship
I would imagine that there are times when we experience worship as something that is dry, cold, lifeless, or boring. Children, who often don’t have or use a filter in service, might grumble something like, “When is this going to be over?” Perhaps they express what we have been able to sometimes hide. This is a tragedy because there is nothing dry, cold, lifeless or boring about our God. He is the most exciting and fulfilling being we can know! Though our worship on earth might fail to express the wonder and excitement of our Lord, the worship that we are anticipating is the most refreshing, life-giving, exciting and wonderful experience that we have not yet contemplated (1 Cor 2:9). The child’s question will never be asked!
However, if it were, it would be asked in a much different tone: “Will this ever end?” Most things (if not all things) we anticipate in this life are things that will come to an end. But this worship will never end. And so we anticipate a time when our worship will never again be interrupted. It is what we are promised. It is what John saw that day in his vision. It is what we are all longing for even now.
May the Lord be pleased to return and bring this scene to fruition.
Below is a recording from over ten years ago of a song I was working on but was never able to finish. The verses come from the hymn Christ Shall Have Dominion. I based the chorus on Revelation 11:15. It seems fitting in light of our series.
1. William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors, 92.