Revelation

5:11-14

The vision of God and the Lamb, 4:1-5:14

iii] Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

This passage consists of two songs of praise. The first is directed to God the Son; the Lamb receives praise for his person. He is the wonderful saviour who has instituted the new age of the kingdom of God. He has gathered a people to himself to inevitably overwhelm the powers of darkness and bring order to chaos. All this is achieved by the one "who was slain". Then, in the second song, both the Father and the Son are offered the praise of "every creature in heaven and on earth."

Revelation 5:11-14 falls within a very important section of the book. In Chapter 4, John describes his vision of God the creator, and then in chapter 5 his vision of God the Son - the Lamb, the Redeemer. From the splendor of the heavenly throne, John goes on in chapters 6-16 to describe his visions of the agony of the universe. This he does in the visions of the four sevens - seven seals, seven trumpets, seven signs and seven plagues. These visions range back and forth in time, outlining the chaos of our present age.

Chapter 5 opens with a vision of a scroll sealed with seven seals. No one, either in the realms of heaven, or on earth, can break the seals and open the scroll. The scroll, with its seals, represents the corruption, evil and chaos of the present age. This mystery of chaos seems supreme. It runs its course and none can control it. Its earthly manifestation but illustrates its ever-pervading presence in the heavenly realm. In the presence of such loss, John weeps because no one is worthy to deal with the pervading cancer of evil. The Lion of Judah, Christ, then steps forward. He has "triumphed" over sin, death, and the powers of darkness. "He is able to open the scroll and the seven seals". He alone can deal with the problem of evil, of chaos, death and darkness.

In verses 5-10 the Lamb takes up the scroll. He is both worthy and well able to deal with the pervading chaos active in the universe and in the realms of heaven. He is worthy, for he is the redeemer of an oppressed people from out of the world. He has rescued them from the realms of chaos, he has rescued them from the hands of the powers of darkness, and he has done so in the giving of his own life. This new creation of the Lamb will now serve as priests and kings to "reign" and bring order to chaos. Light is intruding in the darkness, the new age has begun.

The vision of the Lamb's victory reaches a crescendo with a song of praise to God and the Lamb from all living things, v11-14.

eidon (oJraw) aor. "I looked" - "Then I saw countless angels and heard them chant."

muriadeV (aV adoV) "thousands" - myriad, ten thousand. In Greek, the largest number possible. Here there are myriads of myriads. Best translated "millions". Millions of angels in worship God singing his praise, v12 and v13.

twn zw/wn "the living creatures" - Ref. 4:6, ... drawn from Ezekiel 1. These tessara zw/a "four living creatures" are "celestial beings of some sort", Osborne. They seem to surround the divine throne, possibly one in front, one behind, and one either side.

twn presbuterwn (oV) "the elders" - cf. 4:4, etc. "The twenty four elders" sit upon twenty four thrones in concentric circles around the throne of God. Debate rages as to whether they are human, ie. representing the resurrected saints of Israel, old and new, or angelic beings. Their function seems to be that of worship and administration.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "they sang" - saying. The participle is adjectival, limiting "angels", v11; "angels .... who were saying/singing. Mounce suggests a chanted response.

axion adj. "worthy" - having right and authority before God. The Lamb is worthy to receive power etc. He does not receive power etc. because he was slain.

to esfagmenon (sfazw) perf. pas. part. "who was slain" - having been slain. The participle is adjectival, limiting "the lamb", as NIV.

labein (lambanw) inf. "to receive" - The infinitive is epexegetic explaining the adjective "worthy". He is worthy to be given ......

eulogian (a) "praise" - praise, blessing, thanksgiving... "The one gift that we who have nothing can give to him who possesses all", Barclay.

hkouisa (akouw) aor. "[then] I heard" - [and] I heard.

epi thV qalasshV "on the sea" - The preposition epi "on", followed by the genitive, would imply seafarers, but surely what lives in the sea is intended. Some texts have the preposition "in", en, "in the sea". Moffatt has "sea-monsters".

legontaV (legw) "singing" - saying. The participle is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner in which the action of the verb "I heard" is accomplished.

tw/ kaqhmenw/ (kaqhmai) aor. part. "to him who sits [on the throne]" - to the one sitting. The participle functions as a substantive. It is possible to translate this section of the verse "I heard all thing / creatures singing to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb Praise and honor and glory and dominion."

kratoV (oV) "power" - A different Greek word for "power" is used in v12. The words take the same meaning, although TEV suggests "strength" v12, and "might" v13. Michaelis suggests that when the word is used in doxologies, as here, it means "the superior power of God."

epesan (piptw) aor. "fell down" - Here in the sense of prostrated themselves. We might say "knelt down."

prosekunhsan (proskunew) aor. "worshiped" - did obeisance

Revelation Introduction

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