Positions
Around the Throne of God
Revelation
5, verses 11 - end
r05c
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Text
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Comments
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9
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the
earth. |
| .11
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne
and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; |
Many
angels Not all because a third chose the way of Satan re1204.
The song of v12 is special for the righteous angels because, before Lamb
was slain, they would not have fully understood the character of Satan
who had tried to seduce them.
Round
about the throne Earlier re0408
we looked at the hymns and found a progression through time. Looking again
at previous verses, in harmony with that idea, we may see an interesting
pattern of distance from the throne. See note below.
Number
... thousand times Those Daniel saw who witnessed
and participated in the preadvent judgment are described the same way da0710.
They here witness the same judgment as we will see in studying chapter
6. The number is probably not literal. |
| 12 Saying with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. |
Worthy
Compare v2, v9.
Lamb
... slain See on v6.
To
receive Seven qualities. There may be more to learn about how each
is received. For the first, consider mt2818. |
| .13
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. |
Every
creature Every one who could give this praise not including the
animals, but including wicked people and angels is4523.
Acknowledging the justice of God does not mean changed hearts re1611.
This is the last of the five hymns. See chart.
Him
that sitteth on the throne He who gave His son jn0316
and was ever with Him except for a terrible moment at Calvary mr1534
is to be praised, too. It was a joint sacrifice jn1030. |
| 14 And the four beasts said,
Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that
liveth for ever and ever. |
Amen
Confirmation from representatives of the redeemed for whom the Lamb was
slain. Yes, praise God! |
.
Note 5:11,
In around and
away from
....Notice,
in the verse, what and who the many angels are around. The pattern doesn't
begin here, however. As we started to read the two chapters we found first
the throne, then the One on the throne. Then:
The living ones were in the midst of the throne and around it re0406.
The elders were around it re0404.
The Lamb was in the midst of throne, the living ones, and the elders re0506.
Now
in our verse above we see the angels around the throne, the living ones
(beasts), and the elders. Are you beginning to see a pattern? This is in
harmony with a positional relationship from re0321:
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even
as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." The
Father is joined by the Son, and the Son by the end-time faithful (those
of Laodicea). So we will be close to the Son who is close to the Father.
....This
gives us a picture of concentric rings or squares with the One on the throne
and the Lamb in the center. The living ones are at the edge of the throne.
The elders around the throne, the angels around all these in our current
verse. I like to think of the rings as squares like the tribes of Israel
camping around the sanctuary. I'll illustrate the relationships.
Note 5:13
Every creature
"And every creature
which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and
honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Rev. 5:13)
How
wonderful when the universe will again be at peace. Willful sin is rebellion.
One day it will be ended! What a wonderful promise. Every creature (created,
intelligent being) will acknowledge the justice of God — even those who
have rejected Him and the home of pure love which He planned for them.
Even
now we can praise Him in the words and actions of the living ones and the
elders.
"Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:5-11)
Classes of the wicked
In our diagram the
wicked are shown as in the black area. Jesus used the term "outer darkness"
to describe the destination of the wicked mt0812,
mt2213,
mt2530.
Three groups of wicked people follow three religious systems: the earth
beast, the sea beast and the dragon. I explained them in connection with
Rev. 13:14 re1314-classes.
We find the three again condemned around the white throne re2013.
